


Good Girls Are Bad Girls

by xoxoMizzWest



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:47:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 50,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxoMizzWest/pseuds/xoxoMizzWest
Summary: "It wasn’t completely abnormal for Julie Molina to lay awake in her bed, but typically she could quiet her mind enough to fall asleep at some point. Tonight - er, this morning - she was not so lucky. To her credit, she had tried everything and there was just no way it was happening. Caleb's curse was actually broken. She got to keep her boys. The band was back. For real. She had said her goodbyes, but they came back to her anyway."Picking up where season one ended. Flynn and Julie are aged up to 17. Mature themes mentioned throughout.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 165
Kudos: 616





	1. Visit Me?

**Author's Note:**

> So, my last published piece of work was in 2011 and reading back on it now was pure garbage. I am not sure what made me fall head over heels for this fandom, but I felt the call to write and here I am. 
> 
> I wanted to make sure I could finish the story before anyone else saw it, so this piece is finished, edited, and ready to post. I may write additional parts, I just have so many thoughts for this world.
> 
> Please keep in mind this story is rated Mature for a reason. Alcohol/recreational drugs mentioned as well as some more intimate topics. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

It wasn’t completely abnormal for Julie Molina to lay awake in her bed, but typically she could quiet her mind enough to fall asleep at some point. Tonight - er, this morning - she was not so lucky. To her credit, she had tried everything and there was just no way it was happening. Caleb's curse was actually broken. She got to keep her boys. The band was back. For real. She had said her goodbyes, but they came back to her anyway.

Adding to that miracle, she was still riding the high from the show at the Orpheum and the dahlia she knew had to be from her mom. How could she sleep when her entire world had been flipped upside down, but also everything felt like it was exactly as it was supposed to be? 

She had spent a good amount of time on the phone with Flynn, explaining everything that happened. Peeking at her phone, Julie saw a time she refused to believe existed: 4:30am. Her call with Flynn had ended hours ago and she wasn’t any closer to sleep. Her dad would be waking up in half an hour to go on his morning run and she had laid in bed all damn night replaying those 5 minutes in her head over and over.

She had hugged him and she had saved all of them.

But _Luke_. The way he looked at her in those seconds before she beckoned the other guys… Like she was simultaneously the most powerful person and the most fragile thing on the planet. Like if he breathed wrong, she would be the one to disappear. But if he stopped touching her, the spell would break. It was confusing as all hell, but it was the biggest blessing she had gotten since they had crash landed into her life. 

Julie closed her eyes, hoping for sleep, but also just hoping the next hour would pass quickly so she could get up without it being a whole conversation with her dad. It was Saturday, so he would do his long loop, assuming his two kids would sleep in as long as humanly possible. Not today, Ray. Not after the look she shared with her band-mate last night. Not even close.

***

Luke, on the other hand, hadn't bothered trying. While ghost-life seemed to allow him to power nap, 'going to bed' wasn't a thing he had been able to accomplish. Instead, he laid on his couch and replayed that moment over and over, making sure to commit it to memory. Obviously he was good with spinning words, it was kind of his thing. But telling Julie that no music was worth it without her… he meant every word. She meant too much to him - to all of them. Playing with Caleb would have made sure they remained ghost musicians, but they’d no longer be The Phantoms. Losing Sunset Curve was hard enough, giving up Julie to become a pawn was not an option.

So, when the boys didn’t cross over, he and Reggie had the brilliant idea to hide out in the studio until they were jolted into oblivion. In what reality that was going to work, Luke couldn’t pinpoint, but it was their only viable option. Where else would they go? Had Reggie kept his mouth shut, she would have just gone up to bed. Truth be told though, Luke had never been so thankful for his friend’s lack of impulse control. 

It was the worst thing he had ever seen, watching her beg them to leave her and join Caleb. Reg was right, there was no way they would ever go back there. No way they would ever let Caleb be their ring leader. Until suddenly, he was telling her the rawest truth he could - that she was his music, that there was no point without her.

‘No regrets.’ He had poured his entire being into those two words. He - they - regretted absolutely nothing about being her Phantoms and she needed to know that. Nothing about their time together was ever going to be less than extraordinary. Then, somehow she was on her tiptoes and hugging him. The world stood still, he was sure of it. He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her small frame and pull her close. Luke couldn’t breathe. This was it. His final jolt would be when he could finally hold her. “I love you guys.” Afterlife was cruel as well. 

But the longer he kept contact, the stronger he felt. What he thought was a jolt was… pure magic. He GLOWED for fucks sake. When she cupped his face and he mirrored her, he could tell she wasn’t breathing either. It wasn’t worth the risk. 

Looking into her eyes, all his pain faded. He laughed, holding her face and wiping her tears away. He had to have crossed over, this was heaven, there’s no way it wasn’t. He looked back, and standing there were Alex and Reggie. His brothers, looking at him with their mouths open; that’s what brought him back to Earth. He blinked and reality hit him: he was still here, he was holding Julie’s hands, he was touching her, and he felt better than he could ever remember. 

The only things in the universe that would have made him let go of her in that moment, were his boys. Suddenly, the glow was blinding. Suddenly, the planet was moving again, with Julie and all three of her Phantoms still firmly grounded to it. She saved them. His angel of music had broken a wicked spell and had brought the three of them back to her, with a single hug. 

***

Once he was sure he wouldn’t forget a second of last night, he poofed out of the studio and onto the hammock in the Molina’s back yard. Everywhere on their property was covered with massive plants, but here, he truly felt like he was on a deserted island, laying there in the early hours of the morning. Light enough to see, but almost not qualifying for dawn. He had realized that this part of the yard wasn’t used very much by anyone but him, so this is where he came to be alone, without being too far. 

As soon as Julie had learned that Luke couldn’t sleep she had set out to find different things to occupy his time. After realizing that reading wasn’t his thing, Julie had been kind enough to loan him one of her old phones and some earbuds. She told him it wasn’t anything special anymore but that it would play music and there was even a way for them to “message” each other back and forth. She spent time with him showing him how to use it and they set him up a couple accounts so he could use YouTube, Apple Music, and Facebook Messenger to be in touch with her and Flynn (for emergencies, she said). She even downloaded a few games in case he got really bored.

Before giving him the phone, she made him promise not to flaunt it in front of the boys (she didn’t have a spare phone floating around for each of them). Then she nonchalantly mentioned that she had made him playlists of the top 100 songs from each year since... Orpheum round one (specifically excluding anything by Trevor, since Luke clearly already knew _those_ songs). She also threw in some of her personal favorites that didn't top the charts. He was at a loss for words. She had curated almost 200 hours of music to keep him occupied. ‘Thank you’ didn’t seem to be enough. 

Laying in the hammock, Luke pulled the phone and earbuds out of his pocket and popped them in. He was slightly ashamed to say that he had already listened to most of the playlists and had started just shuffling the entire library. Oftentimes, he would just select something, close his eyes and let his mind wander. The music took him where it pleased, he was simply along for the ride. This turned into his nightly routine, instead of sleep, he would listen.

He hit “shuffle”. Bad Day by Daniel Powter (2006) came through and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Bad day was right. For the first time, he let himself think about before the show… when he was stuck between the Hollywood Ghost Club and the Orpheum. He wanted nothing more than to be on stage with Julie, but Caleb was ruthless in his attempts to pull Luke back. He was so tired of trying, but he had to. He had to be there for his entrance. And somehow, he was. He finally felt the force pulling him back let go and suddenly he was there, looking at her, and singing their music to a packed club. He was so close to ruining another big event for Julie, but he had made it back just in time. The relief he had seen on her face was worth every ounce of energy the pull had sucked from him. He was there with her. It was worth everything.

The song faded into Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons (2018). He smiled at that. Absolutely. Whatever it took to sing next to Julie. Whatever it takes for Julie and the Phantoms to get on these lists some day. He wants someone to listen to their music and let it take them somewhere. Screw getting rich or famous, Luke wants to touch someone’s life and make it better. He wants to feel like what he’s left behind matters. He wants someone who feels alone, to feel like Julie and the Phantoms are there for them. He wants someone with a dream to follow it because they inspired them. Because they never gave up. Even if the world never knew the true story, the world would know who Julie and the Phantoms were. 

Suddenly, a hushed guitar chord fills his ears. The soft melodies of My All by Mariah Carey (1998) ripped him from his mental monologue. He hadn’t listened to this one more than once, when he listened to the playlist in its entirety. He closed his eyes tightly and listened to her breathy lyrics. 

_‘I am thinking of you_

_In my sleepless solitude tonight_

_If it's wrong to love you_

_Then my heart just won't let me be right_

_'Cause I've drowned in you_

_And I won't pull through_

_Without you by my side_

_I'd give my all to have_

_Just one more night with you_

_I'd risk my life to feel_

_Your body next to mine_

_'Cause I can't go on_

_Living in the memory of our song_

_I'd give my all for your love tonight’_

Luke opened his eyes and couldn’t believe his ears. That’s exactly the wish he had been granted tonight. One more night by her side. He smiled softly to himself. He would always be blown away with how incredibly lucky he was, even after the unfortunate altercation with the hot dog. He died, yeah, but his world was bigger because of it. He met Julie because of it.

A soft blip noise interrupted Mariah’s vocalizing. He brought the phone up to his face, looking at the time: 5:20am. Julie should still be sleeping but there was her face in the corner of his screen. He clicked on it, reading her short message and feeling the smile on his face growing on its own. 

_Julie: I give up, I can’t sleep._

'So much for emergencies', he thought to himself before replying: _What’s that like?_

_J: hah sorry.. visit me?_

That had become code for “come knock on my door”, since the boys still needed to respect her boundaries. 

_L: Ray wont find it strange you’re talking to yourself at 5:30am?_

_J: He’s out for his run_

_J: But if you don’t want to…_

The time between the blip and the slight knock on her door was no more than a couple of seconds. Julie shook her head but softly called “come in”. 

For the first time ever, Luke opened the door and closed it behind him. Phasing into her room felt weird in the moment, but as soon as the door clicked shut he felt like this was somehow worse. He smiled at her sitting on her bed, staying near the door that seemed to be both mocking him and also giving him moral support. “Hey” he quietly acknowledged her.

She smiled in his direction then looked down at her bed “hey yourself”. Was it his imagination or was she blushing? No that’s crazy. 

After pushing that absurd thought out of his mind, he looked at her a little closely. Had she always looked so small in that bed of hers? He couldn’t help but notice how exhausted she looked at the moment, but also like she could tackle the next week if needed. Would this girl ever stop being the most impressive person in his life? He took a small step toward her and tried to ask in the most delicate way possible “did you sleep at all?” 

She hears that his voice is full of concern and picks her head up to smile at him again. “How do you expect me to sleep after yesterday? After everything that I went through, after everything you went through? I was ready to - nevermind.” Julie cut herself short and took a breath. “But here you are.” She stopped to chuckle slightly, her smile growing. “Somehow you’re still here with me. Somehow I am the luckiest girl in the world and after all the heartache we’ve all been through we get to keep each other. I have so many other things to do than sleep.”

“Julie… I didn’t get to say it last night, but thank you. You keep telling us we brought music back to you but you don’t see what you’ve done for us.” Gaining a little confidence, Luke walked over and dropped to his knees next to her bed. He takes her hand and holds it close to him “you brought _us_ back. From whatever darkness we had been in for 25 years. The last thing I remember seeing was the inside of an ambulance, and then we were in the studio and I saw you.” He smiles brightly at her. “What brought us back, I don't know. But what I do know is that this - us - is the best thing to ever happen to me. Thank you.”

Julie feels a smile pull her cheeks up and a tear slide down them. She pulls on the hand Luke is holding and brings him up as she wraps her arms around his neck. Hugging Luke, which wasn’t possible twelve hours ago, was quickly becoming the most calming thing she had ever known. Even though he didn’t give off the typical warmth you get from hugging someone, his presence made up the difference. She felt him wrap his arms around her back for the second time and she smiled into his neck. 

After a moment with neither of them pulling away, Luke chuckled to himself, breaking Julie’s revere. He pulled back and held her face in his hands, just the way he did the previous night. He looked into her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment, maybe a moment too long. He then kissed her on the forehead and muttered into the skin there “you have no idea how amazing you are.” 

She hugged him again. What else could she do? Him looking at her like that, speaking his truths. She hadn’t overlooked the fact that he hadn’t stopped touching her since he got the courage to walk the 6 feet from the door to her bed. She didn’t blame him at all. Even though she obviously hadn’t known the pain of the jolts, she was dealing with her own pain over the last days. Touching Luke took that away and she hoped the opposite was true for him.

For the last week she had been gearing up for the biggest night of her life, but if their plan worked, it would be the last show for the Phantoms. She was preparing for the final line of Stand Tall to be the last words the four of them shared. It couldn’t be “goodbye”, but it was a promise to her boys that no matter what, she would stand tall, even if she had to stand by herself. That’s why they had picked this song. It was a power anthem, sure. But it also was a pact that the four of them made. She had prepared to just be Julie from now on. She had prepared to live with the memories she had made with them. She had prepared to cry herself to sleep that night and every night for the foreseeable future.

She had not been prepared to be able to hug Luke and for everything to change. While it was fantastic on its own, touching him brought her the realization that, at least for the time being, she didn’t have to stand alone. She had them. She had Flynn. She had her dad and Carols, and somewhere out there she knew she had her mom. 

Luke felt her shudder and he pulled himself away from her. Moving so he was next to her on the bed, holding her hands in one of his and wiping her tears with the other. ‘Still no good with tears’ he thought to himself and he immediately started panicking. “Wh-what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

She let out a breathy laugh and shook her head, catching his eyes and holding his gaze. “I guess I’m just realizing how lucky I’ve been. I can’t think of any other time in my life where I’ve been so… so... “

“Content?” Luke offers.

“Yeah… Content. Obviously I still miss my mom. But...” she spoke slowly, as if she was making sure each word said made sense coming after the last. Luke sat patiently, his thumb rubbing the back of one of her hands, his other hand still on her face to catch any tears that may fall. He sat in silence with a soft smile, letting her fill in.”... after last night I know she’s around, she just can’t be the way you guys are. But you guys _are_ here. And for the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful for the future.”

 _‘Future_ ’ Luke thought to himself ‘a future with Julie’. He liked the sound of that. 

He gave her one of his thousand watt smiles. “I know exactly how you feel. But, if we’re going to be sticking around for a while…” he let go of her face to fish in his pocket, keeping hold of her hand, “... I’m going to need some more tunes to keep me busy, because you are going to need to sleep eventually”. 

She gaped at him. “You listened to everything? Already?” 

Luke blushed at her and looked away. “I’ve got a lot of time on my hands... Alex has been spending as much time with Willie as possible and Reggie has been hanging out with Ray since he’s working from home. Obviously you have school and you need sleep. I used to write in my free time, but that’s something you and I do together now” he blushed harder “so I’ve been laying on the hammock out back just letting the music take me away.”

Julie takes “his” phone and leans against her headboard, grabbing her phone in her other hand. She’s tapping on the two screens fervently. Luke looks at her, not sure what he should do. ‘Boundaries’ he reminds himself. He clasps his hands, puts them in his lap, and just looks around. Obviously he’s been in this room a bunch of times, but he’s never really taken the time to really look at it. It’s bright and orderly, but cozy - homey? Is that the word he was looking for? It’s extremely _Julie_ he realizes. 

He thinks about his bedroom - blackout curtains, posters pinned to the wall, his bed that he refused to make, his laundry sprawled throughout the floor. He would have been embarrassed to have this girl in his room. He stops his thoughts and feels his cheeks warming again. Since when could ghosts blush anyway?

Julie looks up and notices his eyes wandering. “Whatcha thinking about?” she asks before she even realizes the words are coming out instead of staying in her head. She continues to tap on the screens, sharing her different playlists with him and adding some other songs she thinks he would like.

Luke shakes his head, breaking his spiraling thought process. “Just how different your room is than what mine was. I would never have been able to hang out with you in mine. Not without hardcore cleaning beforehand. But- but it’s nice. I like being in here.”

Julie looked at him - really looked at him - and realized that he was essentially homeless. Of course he ‘lived’ in the studio with the boys, but they shared it. He didn’t really have a place to go to, didn’t even have a real room to go to when he needed space. Her heart softened a bit. Her boundary rules had really helped the guys respect her space, but she hadn’t realized that they hadn’t been given the same consideration. Now that it seemed they were here the long haul, maybe it was a conversation they’d need to have. 

“I like having you here” Julie admitted before she could stop herself. “I mean… I know you don’t get a lot of privacy sharing a shed with two other guys. Once we figure out what this new phase of ghostly-ness means, like if other people can touch you or if anyone else can see you, we should probably find a more permanent solution for you guys. But until then” she paused and took a breath. “I’m offering you a free pass to be in my room whenever you’d like, with some conditions.”

Luke caught her gaze, dumbfounded. “Are you sure? I really don’t want to overstep or anything. I know having your space is important to you.”

Julie sat up a bit and took Luke’s hand in hers again ‘you’re important to me’ she thought to herself, grateful she had the ability to keep that one in her head. “I’m sure. Condition one: you keep your paws off my dream box.” She looked at him pointedly. 

“Accepted - but I would suggest you find a new place for it. Possibly locked in a trunk or something? It just looks so tempting up there on the shelf.” He smirked at her. Only good things had some out of him sifting through the box, but still. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself sometimes.

“Noted. Condition two: if I’m in here, you need to knock on the door before coming in.”

“Easy. I do that already.”

“Condition three: if we get in a fight or I leave upset and come up here, you need to give me time to cool off. And I will do the same for you. This can be your space to be upset and feel things too. We can message each other when we think we’re leveled out. Deal?”

Luke couldn’t believe what he was being offered. Access to Julie’s room - access to a private space. He’d have a place where he could just be by himself. Her conditions seemed more than fair. She even offered to avoid her own room for him if he needed time alone… “Deal.”

“Oh and one last condition: no shoes on my bed.” She stuck her hand out for him to shake on it.

Luke caught his breath and looked at her hand, then moved his gaze to the space next to her. ‘No shoes on my bed’ did that mean that... Luke was welcome... on her bed? Of course. She was offering him access to her bedroom, where the main piece of furniture was her bed. He swallowed the lump in his throat ‘why is that weird? I’m sitting on her bed now. It's fine, everything is fine. Friends hang out in the same bed. It’s fine.’ 

Luke put his hand in hers and shook it. She smiled softly at him. “If you ever get sick of me being in here, just let me know. We can come up with a code word or something if you want.”

“I don’t get sick of you” she smiled at him and patted the space next to her that Luke had been eyeing only minutes ago. “Come here. I added some more music but I wanted to show you how to find stuff yourself. I also downloaded Pandora so you don’t have to specifically know what you want. It’s like a radio on your phone.” 

They spent the next two hours listening to music and going over how to use the different “apps” that Julie had put on his phone. They also decided on “Casey Kasem” as their code word, realizing they had both listened to his top 40 countdowns religiously. Julie was really young when he retired, but her and her mom would listen to reruns of the countdowns together. And he was the voice of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, who was one of their favorite characters. 

***

Around 8:30 Julie remembered that she never talked to Carlos last night. She had been feeling so many things, she definitely couldn’t face him. His “don’t ghost me” comment with the very obvious wink told her he knew _something,_ she just didn’t know what. She turned to Luke and told him about last night before she had gotten out to the studio. “Do you think he knows?” Luke asked her.

“I doubt he knows everything, but I definitely think he has a good idea. Do you want to put your new powers to the test, see if he can see you if we face him together?”

“No time like the present.” Luke got up and walked to the door. 

Julie climbed out of bed and realized she was still in her PJ’s. “Can you wait for me outside my door for a minute? I’m gonna get dressed real quick. We’ll probably need to head to the studio from there.”

He looked at her, in her blue oversized shirt with the very bottom of a pair of grey plaid shorts peeking out of the bottom of it. He had never seen a more beautiful sight. “Sure,” he said, clearing his throat and turning to the door. “I- I’ll be out here.” He phased through the door.

Julie quickly got dressed and ran her brush through her hair. She was comfortable, but still cute. A fitted pink top and black leggings. She looked herself over once more and opened her door.

Luke smiled at her and held out his hand. “Together” he said in solidarity. She laughed and took his hand in hers. She led them to Carlos’ room and she pressed her ear to his door, making sure he was awake but secretly hoping he wasn’t. She could hear the soft sounds of him playing Mario Kart on his Switch and knocked on the door. 

“Come in”.

Julie looked at Luke and nodded at him. She reached to open the door and felt his hand squeeze hers. She didn’t know if it was for his benefit or for hers, but she squeezed back either way, drawing strength from their connection. 

“Carlos. Sorry I _ghosted_ you last night but I had some... stuff to deal with.” She said as she walked in first, Luke in tow. 

He paused his game and put the Switch to sleep. “Well, I think we have a lot to deal with too” as he put the console back in it’s dock. When Carlos finally turned around and looked up, he smirked and his eyes went between them. “I knew it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was chapter one! Thank you for reading. Chapter two will be up soonish. I don't know what my upload schedule will be, but I guess we'll find out together.


	2. Walk Away

_ When Carlos finally turned around and looked up, he smirked and his eyes went between them. “I knew it.” _

Julie pulled Luke the rest of the way into the bedroom and sat on them down on the edge of Carlos’ bed. She took a breath and squeezed Luke’s hand again, this time knowing it was for her own benefit. “So, little brother… What is it you think you know?”

Carlos crossed his arms and gave her a knowing look, one eyebrow raised. “That your new “band” is actually a band of ghosts. And that you and Luke are a thing. Dad’s gonna flip!” 

Julie’s eyes went wide and she dropped Luke’s hand like she had just been burnt. He looked at her, his eyes clearly showing the hurt that he was feeling. She responded with an apologetic look and made a resolve to completely ignore that part of Carlos’ assumption. “Okay, so we’ll break this down a little bit. Yes. The guys are ghosts. But please listen before you decide anything for yourself.” Carlos gave her a look, telling her to continue, and from there Julie started the story from the beginning - the Sunset Curve CD, the show at school, the curse, the ‘why’ behind the Orpheum show, ending with last night.

“So, I didn’t not tell you on purpose, I was just afraid of dad sending me back to Dr. Turner for this. I know it’s weird, but these guys are the best thing that has happened to me in a long time… Dad’s right, they’re the reason I'm back into music.” Julie hadn’t looked at Luke since they sat down, but she turned and said her last sentence straight to him. “I don’t know what I would do without them.”

“Okay… I get it. They’re important to you - blah blah blah. But, if they’re ghosts why can I see them? How can you hold his hand? I don’t get it.” Carlos was happy (and a little cocky) to learn that he was right, but still… he was so confused.

“I keep asking myself the same thing. The touching is new, so is the being seen by someone that isn’t me. Honestly, it’s why I brought Luke in here. To see if you could see him. I’m not surprised though, things have to be extra complicated.” Julie wished more than anything right now that there was some magical “ghost guide” that came in your back pocket when you got dumped out of no man’s land.

The three of them were quiet for a moment, a complete rarity in Julie’s world, since she was constantly surrounded by people that loved talking. 

The sound of the doorbell broke the contemplative silence. Julie stood up and went to leave, Luke right behind her. With her hand on the door, she turned and looked at Carlos. “Please let me be the one to tell dad… please.” He simply nodded and the two of them went downstairs. 

Luke went to the window, peeking out to see who it was. “Julie… It’s Nick.” 

She looked at him, slightly taken aback. “Really? I wonder what he wants.” 

Julie opened the door and was met with Nick’s back. “Hi, Nick.” ‘Oh God, did he just hair flip at me? What the heck… why is he acting so strange?”

Luke had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing while watching from the living room window. ‘I can’t believe it was worried about this guy’ he thought to himself. 

Nick handed Julie a bouquet of flowers and gave her a crooked grin. She took them with a polite “thanks” and looked at him expectantly. He still hadn’t even said ‘hello’ to her. His eyes kept focus on her but he remained silent. 

“Okay… well, I was right in the middle of… something important. Thank you for the flowers. I’ll see you on Monday?” She gave him a tight smile and hoped he’d get the hint.

“Oh.. uh… yeah, I guess... I was hoping to come inside?” Nick scratched the back of his head, Caleb internally hoping it made him more appealing, less creepy. 

Julie started to pull the door closer to her and shook her head, her loose hair following her motions. “Sorry, Nick. I’m busy. I’ll see you around.” She started to close the door, but Nick put his hand on it to stop her and started pushing it open further.

Nick started stepping forward and Julie’s eyes grew wide. Suddenly, Luke was behind her, grabbing the door and holding it tight, making sure Nick couldn’t push it open. “The lady said she was busy.” Nick still looked at him with defiance, like he was contemplating his next move. Luke wasn’t giving him an option. “Walk away.” The tone that Luke used set shivers down Julie’s spine, another thing she’d need to file away to think about later. 

Nick’s eyes grew wide and a grimace replaced his creepy smile as he saw Luke over her shoulder. “Oh... Got it. See ya, Julie.” He spent another moment with his eyes on Luke before turning around and stomping away. He heard the door slam shut behind him and flinched slightly. 

Clearly, this teenage boy wouldn’t be as helpful as Caleb thought. He walked him down to the end of the road and left his body. Nick’s hand went to his head. He remembered what happened but it was fuzzy - like a dream after you just wake up but it is slipping away with each second that passes. He shakes his head and gets in his car to drive home. He didn’t need round three of being rejected by Julie Molina. 

***

Luke closes the front door just as Julie flings herself into his chest again, arms wrapping around his waist and her head landing on his chest. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you. That was so fucking weird!” 

He chuckles and just wraps his arms around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. “That’s what I’m here for. Happy to be of service.” She picks her head up and he gives her  _ that _ smile. She smiles back at him and relaxes her hold on him, their eyes remaining locked on each other. 

Luke holds his breath. He can’t help but look down at her lips. They were so close to his own. He forces himself to look back into her eyes, but he notices that her eyes move back at just the same time. He takes his hands and cups her cheeks. “Julie…” 

Julie considers for a moment what could happen if she let herself give in to this urge… If she allowed herself to go on her tiptoes and gently press her lips into his. Would she cup his cheek in one of her hands and let the other snake its way to the back of his neck, fingers tangling in the soft curls there. Julie’s mind goes blank except for this moment. Would Luke move his hands from her face to her hips and touch her in a way she only wanted from him? Would he lean down to meet her so she could stand flat-foot, and break the kiss to lean his forehead down to hers. Should she do it?

Julie barely has time to register that she had made a decision when she hears the back door opening. “Anyone awake? I’m in the mood for pancakes and bacon!” 

Luke moves his lips to just next to her ear and whispers “meet me in the studio” right before he poofs away. 

“Yeah Papi, I was just about to go out to the studio!” She opens the door to see a flash of purple smoke streak the sky. She shakes her head but hears her dad shout out “I’ll send Carlos out when it’s done!” 

***

When Caleb lands back in his office at the Hollywood Ghost Club, he sees someone sitting in his overstuffed office chair. 

The figure turns slowly and gives Caleb a malicious look. “Our jobs are to welcome… to guide… to help… to make this  _ less _ scary for our kind… would you care to enlighten me as to what the  _ hell _ you have been up to here, Covington?” 

***

Julie smiled to herself as she ran down the walkway. She tossed the flowers in the trash can outside the studio and opened the door. She wasn’t surprised to see Luke inside, sitting on the couch with Reggie and Alex grilling him about where he’d been all morning. “We thought you’d.. Ya know! You weren’t on the hammock, you weren’t in here, you weren’t at your parents house… come on man! You can’t just disappear and not tell us where you were!”

Luke just laughs and claps his friends on their shoulders. “Gentleman, a man needs his time. Leave it at that.” He looks at Julie to give her a quick wink and once again her heart melts. She didn’t even need to tell him to not flaunt his new VIP pass to the boys - he just knew. 

“Well  _ gentleman _ ,” she prompted. “We have some decisions to make. Last night before I found you guys, I had made a promise to Carlos to go talk to him. I caught up with him this morning, and long story short, he knows. He knows that you guys are ghosts and that we’ve been hiding it from him and my dad… He could see Luke. I asked him to let me tell dad, but I just don’t know how… How do you prompt a conversation about your daughter being able to see ghosts? And oh yeah by the way they live in our studio and hang out with you when you can’t see them?” 

“Well there’s always the fast track like we did with Flynn,” Reggie suggested. “That seemed to work and was kinda hard to argue with.” 

“Yeah but my dad needs a more… delicate… approach,” Julie responded. While she was thankful that Flynn trusted her with her life, Ray was more worried about Julie’s mental health than anything else lately. Not only that, how would he react to them  _ living _ here? She wouldn’t let him kick them out but what if he tried? Julie didn’t want to think about that.

“Well, why don’t we just go to breakfast with you?” Luke asked, breaking Julie from her spiraling thoughts. 

Alex responded to that one “how do we even know he’ll be able to see us if we do? Everything is just so complicated!” He mirrored Julie’s frustrations from earlier, so she started chuckling to herself. 

“It isn’t a bad idea… only one way to find out if it works.” Julie nodded at Luke. 

Reggie looked the most nervous. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. He had become so enthralled with Ray in the past few weeks. Ray was Reggie’s role model. Not only was he a great dad (much better than his own), he was also a really good guy. He was always there for his kids and his clients, even after he got his paychecks. It amazed Reggie to see someone so genuinely  _ good _ . What if Reggie wasn’t good enough? What if Ray was mad that they had been living there, or creeped out that Reggie hung out with him? Could ghosts sweat? 

Alex stood beside Reggie and slung his arm around the bassist's shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Ray is a good guy, he’ll understand.” Alex softly squeezed Reggie’s shoulder and kissed him on the temple. “Everything will work out, promise.” 

Reggie looked at Julie who gave him a smile and a nod. “Okay, let’s go before I lose my nerve. Let's get this show on the road!” Reggie said walking straight into the studio doors. “Oww!” he yelped as he tumbled back a few steps and grabbed his head. “What the fuck!” 

“Oh no… Can you not phase at all anymore?!” Julie looked at Luke and Alex with a small amount of panic in her eyes, ‘That can’t be good… or could it?’ 

Reggie turns around and looks at Alex like a confused dog that just ran into a sliding glass door. “Alex… What is going on!?” 

“I don’t know dude!” Alex ran his hand through his hair and tugged at it slightly.

“Guys, guys!” Luke interrupted Alex’s incoming fit and wrapped his arms around the shoulders of his soul brothers. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll figure it out,” he looked up and caught Julie’s eyes, “together” he said in a gravelly voice, giving her another round of shivers. 

***

After the boys had recomposed themselves, Julie opened the doors and led the parade of teenagers up the walkway to the front door. Before she could open it she turned around and looked at the boys. “Okay maybe this isn’t the best idea. We should just go back to the studio and regroup.” Julie wrings her hands together, suddenly extremely unsure of herself and their plan.

Luke’s hands come up and grab hold of her arms. He slides his hands down them as he pulls her hands to his face. He kisses the back of her hands and holds them to his chest. “Julie… everything will be fine. Yeah?”

She felt her heart melt for the millionth time this morning. Closing her eyes, she took a shaky breath. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right, I’m just… nervous I guess.” She gently pulls her hands from his and turns around. “Here goes nothing.” With another deep breath, Julie opened the door and led them to the next mountain they needed to climb.

***

Explaining things to Ray had proven itself to be… easy? He had his suspicions about the boy’s real origins, but without another solid theory he had just kept his mouth shut. But holograms? Where would Julie have even learned how to do that? 

“So you  _ all _ had rough home lives?” Was the first thing out of Ray’s mouth. Julie’s eyes started to water. Of course her dad was more concerned with their family lives than the fact that they had been hiding from him for weeks. “Well, you all are welcome here. It’s the least I can do for all the happiness you have brought my Julie… I’ll never be able to properly repay you.” 

The guys all smiled at each other then at Ray. None of them had really been able to bond with a parent before, but each of the guys felt a huge weight lifted off their chest. They were  _ welcome _ , he said. Welcome as they were. No conditions or expectations. 

“Do ghosts eat? Because I always go overboard with breakfast.” Ray asked, eyebrows arched and an expectant smile plastered on his face. 

“Uh… we haven’t tried since the ghost upgrade… It’s worth a shot?” Luke replied cautiously, extremely excited at the new possibility. 

With that, Ray got to work. He made eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, English muffins, a fruit salad, and fresh squeezed lemonade. Keeping the three teenage boys in mind, Ray had to say he had outdone himself. It’d been a while since he felt so light in the kitchen. Dinner was not his strong suit - but breakfast. That he could do.

Julie and Carlos open the dining room table to add the leaf so all six of them could sit around it. They got flatware and dishes to set the table. The boys watched the two of them work in sync to get everything on the table and were oddly entranced by how well they worked together. It was like a dance without music. Having siblings is weird. 

“Boys, go wash your hands” Julie said to all four of them and they booked it for the kitchen. Julie had started pouring the lemonade and serving the fruit salad when they returned. She left to go wash her hands and Carlos started directing the boys as to where to sit. 

After washing her hands, Julie was the last one to sit at the table. Ray looked at her and smiled as he held his hands out for Alex and Reggie to take on either side. “Mija, would you like to show these boys how we start meals in this house?” Reggie took Carlos’ hand, Carlos took Lukes, Alex took Julie’s and Julie and Luke looked at each other briefly before smiling at each and taking the other’s hands. 

Julie had never been happier to close her eyes and put her head down to pray. “Lord, we thank you for the food before us, the company beside us, the music within us, and all the blessings you’ve brought to our lives. Amen.” 

Luke gave her hand a small squeeze before he dropped it and grabbed for a piece of bacon. The other boys took a piece of pancake on their forks and looked each other in the eye. “Cheers, guys.” Luke said before he brought the piece of bacon to his mouth. His eyes closed and a sinful moan left his throat. Julie felt that sound hit somewhere deep in her soul and reminded herself to ignore that in the future… or to keep feeding him bacon, she’d have to decide later. 

Ray smiled wide at the boys “wonderful! You guys are welcome to eat with us whenever. Kids, leave the table open when we’re done.” Julie couldn’t help but notice just how happy her dad seemed at the moment. It was so nice to see such a big smile on his face. 

The six of them went on to eat their breakfasts, the boys definitely digging in a little extra, they hadn’t eaten in 25 years, what would you expect? Ray asked the boys questions about their lives and afterlives. The boys got caught up on house rules and even asked Ray a little about his life. He wouldn’t have been much older than them had they not died, so it was cool to hear more about things that happened after they were gone. 

Julie couldn’t help but sit in silent awe. The guys that mattered most to her, all sat around the table, enjoying each other’s company. No weirdness, no one being left out. Her dad was taking in her best friends, just like he had done with Flynn during her parent’s divorce. Even though he was fully content having Rose and the two kids, Ray had always wanted a big family. Having the guys sit around the table and laugh with him made his eyes well with longing. This is what his life had been missing. 

He took a deep breath and smiled, clapping his hands on Reggie and Alex’s shoulders. “Well kids, it’s supposed to be a rather rainy day. Who’s up for a movie day?” 

Julie smiled at her dad and nodded. “Boys, Carlos is our resident movie buff. He’ll help you figure out what to watch. Dad, do you mind if I invite Flynn?” She stood up and started collecting the boys’ dishes and started cleaning the table. With his permission, she sent Flynn a quick text “movie day with the guys… you in?” 

As she started loading the dishwasher, she caught herself smiling. She could hear Carlos starting his typical survey for groups picking movies - what genres do you like? what other movies do you like? any actors you love or hate? It could be kind of intimidating how into cinema he was, even the older stuff, but he always found the perfect movie to show.

When Julie was finished cleaning up, she returned to the table. Standing behind Reggie, she gently rested her hand on his shoulder. “What’s the verdict, boys?” 

Carlos beamed at her, “we’ve got all day so I figured we’d start with Hamilton, then watch Kingsman and Kingsman II. Probably an intermission for popcorn and snacks between each movie.” 

“Good plan, brother. Boys, collect all the blankets and pillows you can find. Flynn should be here in a bit. I’m gonna go get a little comfier.” Julie announced as she started climbing the stairs.

She ran into her room and quickly ripped her shirt and bra off, opting for a black lace bralette and an oversized flannel. She threw her hair up in a bun and heard a soft knock on her door. Julie walked over and opened it to find Luke leaning against her door frame. “Need any help with your bedding?” He asked her innocently. 

‘Need help with something else, that’s for sure’ Julie thought to herself and turned around before Luke could catch her blush. “Sure, thanks. You can grab the pillows and I’ll get the blankets. 

Luke’s arms wrapped around the 6 full sized pillows and 4 throw pillows Julie kept on her bed. The ones smashed into his face must be the ones she typically sleeps with, they smell so much like her. He brought them downstairs, trailed by Alex, Julie, and Carlos. Reggie must have gone out to the studio to get the few items they had out there. 

The four dropped their armfuls and made a huge pile on the edge of the living room. Ray sat ready in his recliner. Julie passed a blanket and a couple pillows to Carlos, who was perched on the couch. That left Julie, Flynn, and the three boys to lay on the floor. Julie got to work setting up their “nest” in the empty space, asking Reggie and Luke to move the coffee table out of the way and she asked Alex to be on snack duty - popcorn, drinks, chocolate - no holds barred. Flynn arrived just as Alex put the last bag of popcorn in the microwave. Carlos explained the line up and Flynn looked at Julie, “did you forget our date tonight?” 

Luke’s ears caught that immediately and he listened intently. “Oh shit, I did!” Amongst all the excitement of last night, Julie had forgotten her plans with Flynn for the night. Flynn’s mom had started working overnights and needed Flynn to watch her dog, so Julie was supposed to spend the night with her. They had planned to have a pity-party for Julie, drinking, smoking, and crying away the pain on the night after her boys were supposed to be gone. “But. I think we can still salvage our night,” Julie smirked at her friend. “Dad, am I still all set to spend the night with Flynn?” she called out, already knowing the answer. 

“Of course, mija. You know Miss J doesn’t like when Flynn is home alone and someone obviously has to watch Maple.” Ray hollered from the other room, starting to stuff his face with the popcorn Alex had just presented him. 

“Perfect,” Flynn whispered back at her friend. 

***

The boys stood in an awkward clump at the edge of the living room, looking expectantly toward Julie. “So…. how do you wanna do this?” Alex asked in her direction, but really speaking to the entire group. 

Luke dove into the pile on the floor, aiming directly for the pillows he had inadvertently sniffed while walking down the stairs. “Dibs!” He wrapped his arms around a pillow, hugging it close to his chest, and started getting comfortable.

Julie looked at him with her hands on her hips, eyes forming slits, and an obvious pout on her face. “But - but those are  _ my _ pillows!” She felt her face flush slightly as she thought about how Luke would look in her bed, hugging her pillows. She quickly shook the thought out of the forefront of her mind, filing it in the ‘to bring up later’ folder of her subconscious, which was definitely getting bigger and bigger. 

Luke shot her a smirk before shrugging his shoulders “you snooze, you lose, Molina. Unless you wanna share.” He offered, moving the pillow back to the wall Julie had created. Her eyes softened as she crawled down to be next to him. Alex ended up on the other side of Luke, Flynn taking the free spot next to Julie with Reggie sitting on her right. 

Carlos waited a moment for everyone to settle in before telling Alexa to turn off the lights. He picked up the controller for his PS4 and started the movie. The rain pattered on the roof as the cast started the opening lines of “Alexander Hamilton”.

***

Julie was very aware of every spot that she and Luke were touching. She tried to ignore it as best she could, but with each passing scene, one of them adjusted to get more comfortable (even through layers and layers of blankets, they did still happen to be on a floor). By the end of Act One, Julie’s head was resting on Luke’s shoulder, his head resting on top of hers, her bun long since removed to make things more comfortable for cuddling. Julie had a hand draped across Flynn, holding both her Reggie’s hands at the same time. Alex had a monopoly on her other hand. Julie looked all around at her little clan. She wasn’t sure how she ended up in the middle of all of them, but she was thankful that this was her spot. She sent a silent prayer up to her mom, thanking her for bringing her new family to her. How else could she have gotten so damn lucky? 

Her attention finally made it back to the screen when Daveed Diggs reappeared as Thomas Jefferson, his glorious hair bouncing in time with his introduction. “So what’d I miss?” 

***

Hamilton was a HUGE hit with the boys. Luke particularly took to “The Story of Tonight” and “Wait For It”. Alex couldn’t believe that his best friend was so into a musical. Any time he had mentioned watching one in the 90s, his friends had shrugged it off. Although, he’d give it to the guys that they didn’t make musicals like this is 1995. This show rocked, literally. He’d have to remember to ask Carlos for other recommendations. 

After the cast had taken their bows, Ray hopped out of his chair and prompted “who’s ready for some lunch?” 

Julie looked at her phone for the first time all morning and noticed that it was well after 2pm. Wow, time was flying and her weekend was quickly dwindling. She purposely ignored the text message from Nick, quickly swiping the notification away. She was not dealing with his weirdness right now, not when everything else was going so well. Julie got up and stretched, going to see if her dad needed help in the kitchen. She definitely didn’t notice the way that Luke was eyeing the bit of her stomach that peeked out of the bottom of her flannel. Nope - she hadn’t seen anything.

Meeting Ray in the kitchen, she saw their electric griddle out, as well as a loaf of bread and a few fixings. “Ray Molina’s famous grilled cheeses?” Julie mocked, leaning on the island next to him.

“Okay, so I was really thinking that you could cook, and in exchange I promise to clean up?” Ray looked at her hopefully. He had gotten much better in the kitchen since Rose had passed, but Julie was definitely still better at grilled cheeses. He always seemed to over cook the bread and never melt the cheese.

Julie smiled and took the knife out of his hand. “The secret…” she looked around and wiggled her finger for him to come closer so she could whisper in his ear “is mayo instead of butter.” Ray looked at Julie like she had four heads and she chuckled. “Go get orders, I’ll start cooking. See how many the boys want.” 

Julie turned the griddle on and started prepping the bread. Using their griddle was a much better plan as you could cook more at once than in a pan, but she definitely thought her work was best done in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. 

All of Julie’s friends came to hang out with her while she cooked, Carlos stayed in the livingroom to get everything set up for their second movie of the day: Kingsman: The Secret Service. All three of the boys insisted that Julie cut their sandwiches in triangles and she couldn’t even try to argue. She could tell this was a moment they were all looking forward to - the first meal she had cooked for them.

Julie delivered lunch to her dad and Carlos in the living room. Once she returned to the kitchen, she gave each boy a plate with two sandwiches, all of them cut in triangles. She watched them “cheers” like they had this morning, and each took a big bite. Once again, Luke’s moan of content hit Julie like a ton of bricks… ‘what is wrong with me?’ she tucked a loose hair behind her ear and looked at Flynn who wiggled her eyebrows at her BFF. 

The girls cheersed themselves with their own sandwiches. Once Reggie was done with his first piece, he walked over to Julie and gave her a big hug. “These are better than Luke’s mom used to make!” 

“My mom made great grilled cheese!” Luke argued. “Not that these aren’t gr--”

“I didn’t say she didn’t…” Reggie interrupted him, “but Luke. These are…” he put his fingers to his lips and did a chef’s kiss. “These are the bomb. Don’t argue with me.” 

Alex laughed slightly “I have to agree, Luke… I’ve never had a better grilled cheese. Thanks for lunch, Julie.” 

“Yeah, thanks!” Reggie added and Luke just nodded, his mouth full of sandwich.

***

After lunch, the five of them piled back onto the floor and Carlos got the movie started. The guys were completely invested in the life of Eggsy. Julie had seen this movie a bunch of times, and even though it was one of her favorites (Taron Egerton was such a hunk - and a good actor!) she just couldn’t get into it the way she usually did. Her mind kept wandering, mostly about Luke, who had insisted that she use his chest as a pillow since he had taken over the ones behind them. 

She could feel his muscles underneath her cheek, his threadbare Rush shirt doing almost nothing to separate them. His arm was wrapped tightly around her, his hand resting on her waist. His fingers seemed to be drawing little patterns on the skin that was exposed there, but they never wandered. She had one hand behind his back, her thumb had  _ somehow _ slipped into his belt loop. Alex was holding her other hand, their hands resting on Luke’s thigh. She wanted so badly to look up at him, but then he would ask questions and that just wasn’t worth it. 

Behind her, she felt Flynn move from being her big spoon, turning to lay on Reggie’s chest, so only the girls’ butts were touching. She used this as a good excuse to sit up and stretch a bit, twisting to try to crack her back. She twisted toward Flynn first, hearing a few pops and let out a small sigh, then she twisted toward Luke, who’s eyes caught hers, then looked down at her chest, and away. She noticed his cheeks get slightly pink, before looking down and realizing that the top two buttons of her flannel had undone themselves. She blushed and quickly pulled her shirt closed again, but only buttoned the lower button. She wouldn’t admit, but definitely couldn’t deny, that she liked the thought of Luke looking at her. 

She snuggled back into him and entwined her legs with Flynn’s. Taking Luke’s hand in hers, she rested their hands on his leg. She traced absent patterns with her thumb as he went back to drawing on her back. His hand slid slightly further up her waist and gave her a small squeeze. It’s a good thing it was the train scene as the sound of the subway covered the moan that escaped her throat. She pretended that Luke hadn’t heard it, but she didn’t need to know that he definitely had a shit eating grin on his face. ‘So Julie Molina likes when I touch her, apparently just as much as I like when she touches me… good to know.’ 

***

For time’s sake, the guys had agreed to watch the Kingsman sequel at a later date, knowing that Julie and Flynn needed to get home to the dog. All of the guys really seemed to enjoy the adventures of Eggsy and were super excited for when they got to watch the second one. 

The six of them got to work cleaning up the living room and putting things away. Ray went into the kitchen to clean up from lunch, as promised, although he wasn’t surprised to find that Julie had already done the majority of the work. With his back to the living room, he heard footsteps approach then come to a stop. He turned around as Alex stood facing him. “Thanks for today, Mr. Molina… this was so nice.” Alex said, his arms full of pillows to take back up to Carlos’ room. “I didn’t have the best life at home… so it was really nice to feel accepted as part of a family. Thank you.”

Ray smiled gently at the blond haired boy and went to give him a big hug. Alex’s arms were full so all he could do was lean his head against Ray’s. “You are welcome here any time, Alex. I owe you boys everything. Thank you for taking care of my baby.” 

Ray pulled himself away from the boy and held him at arm’s length, like he was really looking at him for the first time. Alex smiled back at him and turned to head upstairs. “Thanks again. You don’t know what that means.” And he was gone. 

Julie and Flynn were upstairs packing for the night. “You’re sure you’ve got  _ everything _ you need?” Flynn giggled to her friend. 

“Shhh” Julie attempted to shush her friend, but just ended up laughing. “Be a little more obvious would you? Yes, I have everything that isn’t already at your mom’s house. It’s going to be fine, don’t wor-” Julie was interrupted by a knock on her open door. She turned around to see Luke.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” he looked at Julie, his cocky attitude from this morning completely gone. The boy that stood in her doorway definitely looked more like a puppy than the guard dog he was earlier. 

“Sure, Flynn, I’ll meet you in the car? She nodded to Flynn who left hesitantly, taking Julie’s sleeping bag with her. 

“Don’t keep me waiting!” Flynn called back to her.

“So, uh… I know what the - uh - terms - of-of our agreement were this morning, but I…” Julie wasn’t sure she had ever seen Luke this nervous. She watched him take a deep breath before he got it out “I just wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be weird if I hung out here tonight while you’re with Flynn?”

Julie smiled at him softly and gave him a big hug. “Of course. I said whenever, and this is primo ‘whenever’ time. You even get the whole bed to yourself.”

“Heh, yeah. Well, I just wanted to make sure it was okay. I don’t want to abuse the privilege,” he scratched the back of his neck, trying to keep his cool at her mentioning him in her bed, refusing to acknowledge the thought about why he’d rather  _ not _ be alone in her bed. “Oh hey, did you finish adding your playlists to my phone? 

“Yeah, you should have plenty to keep you occupied for a little while. If not, just use Pandora or the radio sets until we can download the entire database” she joked lightly. 

“Thanks. I’ll give a full report tomorrow,” he retorted, making sure to keep his emotions in check. Her top button of her flannel was still unbuttoned, giving him the very slightest view of her chest. He was trying so hard to keep his eyes where they belonged, but wouldn’t have been able to tell you if he succeeded or not. 

“Yeah… uh… feel free to message me if anything… pressing… comes up,” Julie tried to say in the most level voice she could muster. She was so thankful to have some time alone with Flynn, even if she knew a good portion of their night would be spent talking about the ghost who shall not be named. But she was really going to miss him - and the guys, of course. She hadn’t had a night away from them in a long time.

“I will. Goodnight Julie, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He shot one more crooked smile at her before poofing out of her room, probably out to the studio.

Julie looked into the empty air, ignoring the slightly  _ sad _ feeling at the lack of presence with her. She pulled her backpack onto her shoulder and went to grab a pillow but thought better of it… Luke seemed to enjoy her bedding. She could borrow one from Flynn. “Tomorrow.” She left her room and closed the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did we like chapter 2?! Thank you all for the support, you don't know what it means to me.
> 
> A few of the later chapters are around 8k words as I have them mapped out... are you guys okay with longer chapters or would you prefer me chopping them up? Let me know. 
> 
> Chapter three coming soon!


	3. Where There's Moonlight

Julie threw her bag into the backseat and plopped herself into the passenger seat of Flynn’s Chevy Equinox. It somehow felt like forever since she and her best friend had been able to have a strictly “girls night”. The boys were a great addition to her life, but Flynn was her person and they needed time together. “Damn, I’ve missed you, girl. What’s on the agenda-slash-menu for this evening?” 

“Well, I figured we could start by Postmating Denny’s. While waiting for delivery, we play a few rounds of Wii Tennis, then find a movie we don’t  _ really _ want to watch and you can spill all the beans about Mr. Hairflip-and-Hearteyes,” she looked over at Julie and wiggled her eyebrows. “Then end the night in the hot tub until we are ready to crawl into bed. As for our menu, we have a lovely selection of Mike’s hard lemonade, various soft drinks and Disaronno. And of course plenty of snackage. Gatorade and Advil will be provided in the morning. And your contribution to the potluck, Miss Molina?” 

“A half ounce of L/A’s finest M.O.B, and an eighth of Pineapple Express, as per tradition.” Julie didn’t smoke  _ all the time _ , just… as often as she felt like it. Except lately. It had been hard, unless she was with Flynn anyway, since she has zero privacy anywhere, and she wasn’t sure how the boys would react. She had no clue what the take on ‘drugs’ was back in ‘95 and they’d probably go all protective of her and give her the riot act. No thanks, she thought to herself.

She was aware that some people would turn their noses at her, but in most cases it didn’t bother her. Julie couldn’t deny that marijuana had helped her. After her mom died, she had terrible night terrors and extreme anxiety about being away from her family. Smoking had helped her return to a (mostly) functioning teenager. The hand full of times she had smoked since the boys brought music back to her had been the most inspired times of her life. It was like whatever needed to be turned on in her brain for the music to flow, was on extra-high when she was, well, high. She could let everything else go and just be in the music. She felt it in her soul a little harder, she heard the melodies a little clearer. 

But, tonight wasn’t about music, but it was about letting go. She had put on such a motherly role since the guys came around, and she was always on high alert. Things were changing at such an alarming rate, and whether she could admit it to anyone or not, after last night she felt like her head was spinning. While the original purpose of tonight was to mourn the loss of the boys, instead she would just be able to reset her emotions with her best friend. She looked over at Flynn and put her hand on her thigh as they turned into the driveway. “Thanks for being such a good friend, Flynn. I don’t know how I’d get through life without you.”

Flynn put her hand over Julie’s and gave it a squeeze. She knew Julie had been actively dreading tonight until about 18 hours ago. “I gotchu, girl. Always. Now, let's get our Party for Two on.”

The girls let themselves inside and immediately let the dog, Maple, out into the small fenced yard. They stepped out onto the deck and leaned against each other, looking out at the beach beyond the fence. Tonight was exactly what both of them needed. Just a night together.

***

Luke had poofed into the studio to find Alex, Reggie and… Willie? “Hey Willie, how’s it going?” He asked carefully. Last he knew Willie wouldn’t be coming around much, let alone directly to the studio. 

“Finally!” Reggie exclaimed. “He wouldn’t tell us anything until we were all here!” He threw himself down in the armchair closest to the door. “Please Willie, spill. The suspense is killing me.” 

“I just didn’t want to repeat myself when I could’ve waited 3 minutes, Reg, chill out,” Willie chuckled at the boy's dramatics 

Luke joined him and Alex on the couch and turned to him. “Well, clearly we’re all ears. What’s up?” 

“I don’t know exactly what happened behind the scenes, but I went to my shift at the club this afternoon and walked into the weirdest sight. You guys aren’t going to believe me… But I fucking met Prince today. He told us the club was under new management, that Caleb was gone, and that our positions were now strictly volunteer only. He tore up my contract... I’m free.” He said the last words so softly that had the air not been completely still, the boys might have missed them. 

Alex sat there, mouth agape. He looked back at Reggie and Luke, they also looked completely stunned. “What do you mean he’s gone… like, gone gone?”

Willie cupped Alex’s cheek in one of his hands and smiled at him. “Gone, gone. The club belongs to a counsel of ghost performers, and some of them were in the audience the night of your Orpheum show. They were not happy to hear how Caleb had been using the power they had given him. Apparently, the mission statement for the club is to welcome new ghosts and help them acclimate to this new reality. Not steal souls and control people for personal gain of the manager. Who knew.” 

Alex finally let the breath go that he had been holding. How was this real? How had they gotten so many miracles in such a short amount of time? Somehow, he knew Julie’s mom had something to do with it. “Is there a woman named Rose on the counsel, by any chance?” It was Reggie and Luke’s turn to hold their breath. The answer to this question could change everything… if Rose was really around… could they even afford the hope the question brought forth?

“Sorry man, I haven’t heard anything about most of the members. HGC is kind of like a chain restaurant… They have clubs all over the place. Not every ghost wants to live in the ‘City of Angels’.” He tried to keep the response light, but knew they had to be asking for an important reason. “But most of them are famous musicians… Prince, Elvis, Bowie, Whitney. They’re the ones I’ve met that I know are on the board.” 

“Well. Do you need a new place to stay, then?” Everyone jumped slightly, turning to find Ray in the doorway. 

Reggie smiled at the man he was starting to consider their ‘band dad’. “Ray, meet Willie. He’s a…” Reggie glanced between Alex and Willie momentarily, deciding on his words. “He’s a good friend. He’s helped us with lots of our ghost questions.” 

Willie stood up and waved at the man across the small room. “Hello, sir. You have a lovely home, from what I've seen of it.” Willie had grown up not very close with his parents, but close enough that he had absorbed the manners they cared to teach him. Rule #1: first impressions last a lifetime - or in this case, an after-lifetime. 

“Thank you, Willie. You are more than welcome to stay here if you need or want. I just ask you to quit with the ‘sir’ stuff… You can call me Ray.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Thanks Ray.” Willie smiled at him the way all the other boys did. ‘Probably another one without a great home life’, Ray assumed, and was silently thankful for another addition to his clan. 

“I came out to let you guys know I was going to order some pizzas for dinner. Carlos has also asked I let you all know that he is the, and I quote ‘the reigning Mario Kart champion in this house’ and he, quote ‘dares anyone to challenge him’. If you guys are interested.”

“Oh it is so on,” Luke smiles to the guys. They all scrambled out of the studio and ran up the pathway to the house, leaving Ray in the dust. Laughing quietly to himself, he looked around the now empty garage. 

“I don’t know what you’re up to… but I don’t think I’ve ever loved you more than I do right now.” Ray kissed his first two fingers and held them up to the sky. “Thank you, my love.” He felt a cool breeze run quickly across his back before he turned to the doors, closing them behind him and following his boys into the house.

***

Julie and Flynn were about an hour into Burlesque, watching it for about the thousandth time in this living room. They were dancing and singing along with every song, laughing their butts off. They were both about two drinks in, definitely getting a little buzz going. They had taken a break for Flynn to roll another blunt, while they watched Christina Aguilera talk about her mom. This scene had hit Julie hard since her mom passed, but it also brought back memories of making music with her. She said the words out loud with Christina, “every single day something happens that I wish I could tell her about.” 

Flynn put her hand over her friends. “And what happened today?” She asked, quoting the movie. It had become their routine that whenever they ended up watching this scene, they would say something they needed to get off their chests or that was weighing on them. 

At the same time the girls closed their eyes and spoke their truths into the universe. 

“Luke.”

“Reggie.”

Flynn braced for the explosion from Julie, flinching slightly, expecting a loud scream. She held the position for a moment, then another, before daring to open her eyes to squint at her best friend. 

“As if you thought I didn’t notice you undressing him with your eyes at the open mic night. That video compilation of the ‘band’ you made that went viral was mostly footage of Reggie. And... you were cuddling with him today…” she dragged out the accusation and winked at her friend, eliciting a small giggle and a matching blush on the apples of her cheeks. 

“I just… I never thought I’d get the chance to touch him… After our first proper meeting where my hand went into his shoulder, I didn’t think it was worth being into him. Of course I thought he was hot, have you seen him? I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers, that’s for damn sure. And now that I’ve touched him… held his hand… laid on his chest. I totally take back everything I said against Juke. I get it now.” Flynn reached for her Bic and lit her perfectly rolled blunt. She took a long drag and passed it to Julie. “Enough about me. I think we have more baggage to unpack with you, my love. Puff, puff, spill bitch.”

“I still can’t believe you have given us a celebrity couple name. But… I do have some updates since last night.” Julie took a hit and then another, holding the second one in as long as she could, milling over the thoughts in her head. “I was going to kiss him.” She exhaled and passed it back to Flynn. There. She said it. She hadn’t been able to act on her decision due to her dad coming in the house, but had he taken another five seconds, she isn’t sure she would’ve been able to stop herself. “I  **want** to kiss him. He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel protected and wanted and like I’m the most worthy person on the planet…” Julie closes her eyes and leans her head back.

“Oh my god what led to this - decision slash opportunity?” Flynn asked, genuinely curious as to what could have led Julie to this realization and the situation in which she was going to kiss Luke! Last time she knew it was simply a crush that Julie was trying her best to ignore.

“Neither one of us could sleep last night, so around 5 this morning he came and hung out with me. We talked about music and about internet stuff. And we briefly mentioned the future, and I realized how hopeful I am that he’ll get to be a part of it. Then we told Carlos about the guys together.” She smirked to herself, remembering Carlos’ comment about them ‘being a thing’. “And then Nick showed up at the house and was acting  **sooo super weird** Flynn, like so bizarre. Like, he started to... come at me? Then suddenly there was Luke. He stood behind me and resolved the situation with a few words. I can’t explain the way that made me feel…” She took the blunt and hit it. She exhaled slowly. “It was like something clicked. He’s always got my back when I need him, and without any questions, he will always stand with me. I guess I just realized how much I wanted to tell him how I feel.” 

The girls continued their two man circle, sitting with silence between them for a moment. The movie played on and before too long, Flynn squeezed Julie’s leg softly. “I’m very happy for you, Juliebird. But, for tonight, you’re my girl, and we’re going to have the best not-pity party known to man!” She stood up and with the blunt in one hand, offered her other to Julie “may I have this dance?” The girl smirked at her best friend, knowing the two had practiced shaking their asses for the next scene a million times over the years. Julie had really tested out the power of her lungs, being bent over the arm of a couch belting out the lyrics on multiple occasions. It wasn’t uncommon for her to leave Flynn’s house sore from dancing and “performing” so much. It was her favorite workout. 

***

The girls continued their performances, breaking between songs to catch their breaths. The last dance number was their favorite. Julie always belts out the power chords and Flynn enjoys the opportunity to really get her body moving. They stuck the final move and collapsed into the couch, both girls giggling and breathing heavy. “Damn maybe if we danced like that for the boys, we wouldn’t need to figure out what to say to them.”

Julie laughed harder at her friend. “We can call that Plan B. But, I know Luke would appreciate words.” Realization set in and Julie’s eyes went wide. “Oh God. I suck! I suck I suck!!! Flynn, remember that day in dance, the one before the party, where I told you I was thinking about Luke while dancing with Nick?”

Flynn looked at her friend like she had three heads, “yeah? Why does that make you suck?”

Julie face palmed and then started pulling up the notepad on her phone, “I day dreamed almost an entire song  _ with a dance number _ … There was a lift, Flynn. A FUCKING LIFT!” Her voice seemed to raise an entire octave. “And I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.”

Flynn’s jaw would’ve been on the ground if this was a cartoon. “You dreamed an entire duet?! Girl. That would’ve been some pertinent information weeks ago!! I wouldn’t have tried shoving you back to Nick,” she pauses as Julie gives her a pointed look, “okay, okay I might have, but I… Still… That’s amazing. You’re so damn impressive, chica.”

“Maybe I should try to finish it?” Julie looked nervously at her friend, her confidant, her soul sister. “Maybe this is how I tell him what I want?” 

Flynn looked back at her “well, what exactly do you want?” 

Julie chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, thinking. What did she want out of this… There was so much uncertainty with everything, she had no clue how long the guys were going to be around for, and she had no idea what falling in love with Luke would do to her when he did finally cross over. “I want to spend the time I have with him,  _ with him. _ I want everything that comes with Luke Patterson.” 

Flynn held her fist out toward her friend. “Then let's do this, baby.” 

***

Ray had his feet up in his recliner, smiling to himself as he watched the boys play round after round of Mario Kart. This is what he and Rose had been working toward, in a roundabout way. They had talked about fostering a few times and they had discussed housing transfer students. Rose knew that Ray’s dream was for a big family and even though she was done having kids, that didn’t mean she didn’t have more love to give. 

They had decided when Julie was first starting school that they were going to be the house that always had an open door for their kids and their friends. That no matter what happened at their own homes, the Molina’s would be a safe place; a place full of love, laughter, music, and family. Ray wiped a tear that had threatened to fall down his cheek, and pushed his footrest down. “Alright boys. What kind of pizza do we like, and how many do we need?” 

Carlos paused the game while Alex and Willie responded at the same time “veggie, no onions”. They turned to each other and Willie took the opportunity to put his arm around Alex’s shoulders, and give him a kiss on the temple. Ray felt a huge smile spread across his face. Even though he had just met the boys properly today and they haven’t mentioned anything, Ray was happy for the two. 

Luke looked at Reggie, a huge smile on his face “bacon?”

“With feta?” Reggie smiles back at him. 

“And light sauce” they say together. Their all time favorite. They break eye contact to turn around and look at Ray, hoping it wasn’t too much to ask. He smiled down at the two of them. 

“Carlos, pepperoni with extra cheese?” Ray asked the youngest boy. 

“You know it.” Carlos responded, already opening up his Domino’s app and putting in their order. A minute later he clears his throat “alright, we have a large veggie, with no onions, a large bacon and feta light on the sauce, and a large pepperoni with extra cheese. I also added a few bottles of soda, and two orders of parmesan bread bites, and a few dipping cups. Sound good, dad?” 

Ray felt his heart burst as all five kids turned to look at him at once. He gave them an assuring smile and gave Carlos the go ahead to place the order. 

“Says it’ll be delivered in about an hour and twenty… Do you guys wanna play something else while we wait? Do you guys smash?”

The three band mates all looked at each other, not sure how to answer the preteen. Has the meaning of the word changed since the 90s? They turned to Willie, who smiled at his clueless boys and turned to Carlos, “lets smash, little man.” 

Carlos beamed and got the game set up. The lost boys seemed a little relieved when they saw ‘Super Smash Bros Ultimate’ appear on the screen. “Prepare to have your asses handed to you,” Carlos mocked. 

Ray sent him a warning look, but didn’t say anything. He had a twelve year old amongst a gaggle of teenage boys. He knew he was outnumbered and that with the five of them playing a brawl game, this was just the beginning of the curse words about to be flung through their living room. He stood up and stretched. “I’m gonna go get some work done, let me know when the pizza is here.”

Carlos shot up out of his seat on the couch, “well dad, I figured that since we’d need to teach the guys to play… you might wanna learn too?”

Reggie looked up at him and stood next to Carlos, “yeah. It’d be nice to have you play with us this time.” 

It had been years since Ray played a video game, and even then it had mostly been teaching Carlos the basics of Mario Kart on his SNES. He hadn’t even played with the Nintendo system he had gotten Carlos for his birthday a couple years ago… “You know what? Sure.”

Carlos grabbed another controller and tossed it to his dad. He and Willie started explaining the basics to the newbs, and even did a few rounds with just the two of them to show them what different combinations did. They recommended that the guys pick a character and stick with them. The more you play with one person, the easier it will be to actually know what you’re doing, instead of just button mashing.

Alex chose Kirby, Reggie chose Sonic, Luke chose Link, and Ray chose Duck Hunt. Carlos was playing as Peach and Willie had to stick with his favorite, Mr. Game & Watch. They made sure to play on flat levels with no items, just letting the guys get used to the movements and recoveries before adding more distractions. The guys were just starting to get the hang of things as the doorbell rang. Carlos paused the game while Luke and Reggie got up to get the door. 

Ray once again looked around and sent up a silent prayer to his Rose, the only thing truly missing from living out his dreams. 

***

Julie and Flynn had been in and out of the hot tub a few times. While they were in the tub they’d be working on filling in the lyrics to the song, carefully typing them out on her phone that was laying on the edge. When they got out they’d run to the house and Julie would play the melody on the keyboard in the dining room. It hadn’t taken long for Julie to begin buzzing with inspiration, and now she was so close to the end that she couldn’t see or hear anything else. She knew why so many of her idols were stoners, because things just… flowed when she was high. She scribbled a few more notes on the paper next to her before she flopped down on the ground.

“Jeeze Julie, you okay?” Flynn asked her, bending down to take her hand and pull her up.

Julie pulled her hand back and laughed. “It’s done, Flynn… and I’ve never been more terrified but excited. Can we go over the whole thing one more time?” 

“Of course! It needs to be perfect.” She pulled a chair up next to Julie’s at the keyboard and cleared her throat. She nodded at Julie to start playing the opening melody.

Flynn made a surprisingly good stand in for Luke, her voice not as deep but still in good harmony with Julie’s. I guess that happens when you’ve been singing together since daycare. They sing the final notes and Julie is actually vibrating with excitement. Flynn hugs her shoulders tightly, “oh that boy is going to straight up melt for you,” she tells her. 

Julie laughs and kisses Flynn’s temple. “You’re the absolute best, you know that?” 

“Oh, I know.” Flynn looks at the clock, reading 10:48pm. “Now, lemme roll another blunt and we can go do one final round in the hot tub before bed.” 

***

It was apparent that Ray, Alex, and Reggie were never going to be champions at Smash Bros, but the other three had to give them props for trying. Luke had picked up on it the quickest of the newbies and had even won a few rounds, but overall Willie turned out to be the Smash King. Carlos bowed out gracefully, happy to finally have a worthy opponent around to play against. 

Ray looked at the clock for the first time in hours and gasped to see that it was 11:46pm. “Alright Carlos, I think it’s time to turn in for the night. Uh… boys, I think we’ll need to figure out some new sleeping arrangements. I know the loft has the pull out and we have a guest room…”

“Oh don’t worry about it, Mr - Ray,” Reggie caught himself before continuing, “We don’t sleep a lot so we typically just end up in a pile on the couch.” Reggie seemed to lose the confidence of the room as he let out a big yawn. 

Willie looked at him with an eyebrow arched. In his few years as a ghost, he’s never needed sleep before… He couldn’t remember yawning. But watching Reggie’s face stretch out, he suddenly had to mimic him, eyes trying to stay wide and resistant, but they refused to follow his command. He looked at Alex afterward, looking slightly scared but mostly confused. Alex simply put his hand on top of Willie’s and squeezed. He looked around the room at the family that was forming. “Well, boys, I think we should head back to the studio and let the Molinas get to bed, yeah?”

“Thanks for a good night, Ray. And for everything else today… just, thank you.” Luke couldn’t find the words to thank him properly, but he hoped he knew just how much this meant to him and to his boys. None of them had a good relationship with their parents, and they definitely had never experienced a love like the one Ray had for them… It was unreal. He almost felt like he didn’t deserve it.

“Good night boys. Please make sure the door is locked and the lights get turned off. Oh, and stay out of trouble,” Ray said, heading up the stairs.

“Night guys. Willie, I will be expecting a rematch for my crown soon,” Carlos winked at the four teenagers as he followed his dad. 

The four left behind went around, making sure to shut off all the lights. Alex, the responsible one, locked the door and instructed the boys to poof to the studio, not wanting to risk it not locking behind them if they used the door. 

Reggie perked up when they all appeared in the studio. “Guys, this means we can play at night now, without worry of getting caught!”

Alex looked at him nervously, but ended up nodding his head “as long as we’re quiet. We still don’t want to wake the neighborhood.” 

Luke smirked at his bandmates, but had other plans for his evening. “I’m actually gonna go for a walk,” he used as an excuse. “Too many things happened today that I gotta process.” Without waiting for a response he poofed out, leaving the other three baffled that Luke was giving up a jam session.

***

Luke wasn’t lying, when his feet returned to the Earth, he was on the beach. Walking in the sand was something he had loved doing with his mom as a kid. She said the waves would lap at their feet and pull all of their worries away. It had become a sour practice as their fighting got worse, until he stopped going to the beach at all. Now that they weren’t on bad terms and she knew he didn’t hate her, he felt the call back to the ocean. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched for the Hamilton soundtrack. He hit shuffle, and was thankful to hear ‘Wait for It’ start playing. Luke took his shoes and socks off and started walking down the length of the beach, bopping his head along with the song. 

After a couple other Hamilton songs (including searching for ‘Story of Tonight’, which reminded him so much of the band, it was crazy), Luke went to the playlist section, not having had the opportunity to peruse what Julie had added for him. He scrolled for a bit, until something caught his eye about halfway down. A playlist simply labeled “Juke”. What did that mean?

He clicked on the playlist and didn’t recognize any of the songs. The cover art for a lot of the songs made him a bit weary, a lot of them looking to be from cartoons or pop stars. “Oh well,” he said to himself, “Julie hasn’t let me down yet.” He hit shuffle and went back to his walk. 

The first song that came on was right up his alley, it was called ‘All the Small Things’ by a band called Blink-182. He thought he had heard of them before, but this was incredible. He jammed along with it, even going as far as to do some killer air guitar. He would definitely need to show the guys this song, it was a hit!

The song faded out and into another song that he could jam out to. He took a peek at his phone, ‘Things I’ll Never Say’ by a girl named Avril Lavigne. While most people wouldn’t put those two songs together, at least in Luke’s mind, they set the tone for him. Hopeful, that’s how he felt. 

He came to stop about half a mile from where he started. He walked a little deeper into the water, letting it push and pull against his skin. Luke plastered a big smile to his face, he couldn’t help but smile at the next song, ‘Only the Good Die Young’ by the Piano Man himself, Billy Joel. Even in his youth, Luke loved that man. He hoped he was still around and made a mental note to check on him when he got back to the house. Julie had explained to him that his music was loaded on to the phone, but searching on the internet could only happen at home or wherever he had ‘wee-fee’ or something. 

He let the swingy beat take him away and started singing along softly. He put a lot of effort into not howling along at the end, even though he seriously wanted to.

The next song did have a bit of a different sound than he was used to. He avoided pulling the phone out to skip it, again reminding himself that if Julie had confidence in the setlist, so should he.

_ “American stories, Burning before me, I'm feeling helpless. The damsels are depressed, Boys will be boys, then, Where are the wise men? Darling, I'm scared” _

He started focusing on the lyrics. That always helped him get into a song if the music behind it wasn’t taking him there. He just moved his head and let the words take him, his thoughts drifting to his own Miss Americana… He knew she was worth fighting for, and worth making a fool of himself over. Even if they couldn’t be forever, they had right now, he reminded himself. 

_ ‘It’s you and me, there’s nothing like this, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.’ _

Luke listened to the last few lines and the last ‘she’s a bad, bad girl’ before he smiled to himself. Well, maybe she wasn’t exactly the girl in the song, but he definitely didn’t want to be a Heartbreak Prince, either.

The next song started out with a soft guitar melody. A raw, male voice came over his headphones and he felt like he needed to stop moving to listen to this… Like it was someone else’s secret, being shared with the entire Apple Music population. 

_ ‘Your eyes, As we said our goodbyes, Can't get them out of my mind, And I find I can't hide. From your eyes, The ones that took me by surprise, The night you came into my life, Where there's moonlight, I see your eyes’  _

Luke couldn’t breathe. His mind replayed the band circle before the Orpheum show; their goodbyes. If only they had been able to touch her then… to hold her. But, if they could’ve done that, they would have never let go. The look in her eyes when she turned back to them before walking away for the last time... Luke hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. 

He couldn’t put a name to it, but it was like she was simultaneously content and sad, all while being torn apart from the inside… Then, at the show, when he couldn’t quite complete the jump, it was her eyes that made the difference… the worry and love and hope he found in them was what got him there. When he was finally solid, it was the first thing he searched for. Singing the lines they had written together and seeing the relief she felt within. It was his downfall. 

He watched her literally jump for joy after seeing him. Every move she made during their song was exaggerated simply because she had so much energy, so many emotions… How could Caleb have ever expected him to perform without that infectious girl? And then they shared her mic. They sang to each other like that first performance at her school, looking into each other's eyes, then her turning around for him to lean over her shoulder. It was everything he needed to know that saying no to Caleb had been the right choice. Nothing without her could possibly make any sense.

_ ‘When I looked into your eyes, Why does distance make us wise? You were the song all along. And before the song dies, I should tell you, I should tell you, I have always loved you, You can see it in my eyes.’ _

“Julie,” he gasped her name aloud. He ripped the earbuds out of his ears and stumbled backward, thankfully making it out of the reach of the waves before falling flat on his ass. Is he truly this dense? No he can’t be... Sure, he  _ likes _ Julie… a lot. More than a lot. Aside from being the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on, and him always looking a little too long at the places her skin was peeking through her “trendy” clothes... So what if he burned the glimpse of her lacey bra into his brain while she was stretching earlier? He was a guy. So why did he look away and feel as though he should be ashamed… He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, cause he’s not an asshole.

But he would openly admit that she was the best thing in his life. The purest form of music and a voice of an angel. She had quickly become his best friend (right in line with Alex and Reggie, of course). They talked and laughed and were close. And yeah, he couldn’t stop touching her. He wanted to always have a hand on her and he couldn't deny that he was living for the little gasps and hushed moans he had been pulling from her since last night… But it was more than that. Touching her made Luke feel like he could protect her. Like as long as he was around, he could take care of her. But that isn’t love… Is it? 

He takes a few deep breaths and puts his ear buds back in. Music will help right? Ignoring the fact that this playlist is what caused this minor melt down, he closes his eyes and tries to shut his brain up. He threw his body back onto the sand and allowed the music to take him away.

_ ‘I think he knows his hands around, A cold glass, Make me wanna know that body, Like it's mine. He got that boyish look that I like in a man, I am an architect, I'm drawing up the plans, It's like I'm seventeen, nobody understands. No one understands. He got my heartbeat, Skipping down 16th Avenue, Got that, oh! I mean, Wanna see what's under that attitude, Like, I want you, bless my soul. And I ain't gotta tell him, I think he knows’  _

Luke sat up and yelled into the ocean. His hands run through his hair. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” For some reason his mind circles back to the title of this playlist. Nuke? Juke?  _ Juke… _ Julie and Luke. Fuck, he  _ is _ dense. 

***

Luke poofed into the studio and threw his shoes on the ground. He was pleasantly surprised to find Reggie, Alex, and Willie in a pig pile on the pullout. He smiled at them, happy that they had convinced Willie to try to sleep. He quickly went into the attached bathroom. Even as a ghost, Luke could tell he smelled like the ocean. While that was relaxing while you were actually at the beach, it didn’t seem like the right cologne for sleeping on someone else’s bed.

He showered and quickly got dressed, wearing a cut off Alice in Chains shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. He grabbed his blanket off the back of one of the arm chairs before he poofed out again, landing in Julie’s room. Luke looked around and smiled to himself. He was always in awe of how well her room reflected her, every time he was in there he noticed something new that was somehow just so ‘Julie.’ He suddenly realized how quiet it felt, how his favorite brand of electricity was noticeably absent.

He collapsed onto her bed, covering himself with his own blanket and pulled her pillow close to him, curling himself around it. What if he was wrong? What if he was  _ right? _ Where would they go from there? Being bandmates and friends was easy… What would it be like to date her? What would it be like for her to date him? He cared so much about her, what if she did only see him as her friend? The thought suddenly terrified him.

Luke had never felt like this about someone… Sure, Jessica Henderson freshman year had been his first girlfriend, first kiss, first  _ first _ , and he had had a few other girls he had kinda gotten close with, but none of that held a candle to this. His first priority was always music. Any girl in the 90s was just a physical thing… He had needs, but that’s all it had been before. 

Julie was the air he breathed and the blood in his veins. She was the music stuck in his head - often literally. He didn’t just want a ‘one and done’ with her. He wanted cuddles and pillow talk. He wanted to trace a masterpiece into her skin while she told him her deepest secrets. He wanted to hold her while she was scared, and kiss away any tears that dare threaten her beautiful cheeks. He wanted to be there for every smile and to cheer her on for each achievement. “We make each other better,” he repeated her words aloud. But what if she didn’t want the same thing? What if she didn’t feel the same? What if he was just destined to be her friend? 

Luke pulled her pillow closer to his face and reminded himself about the things that led him to his conclusion. Last night, after the Orpheum. The way she had tried so hard on multiple occasions to take his hand in hers, and her immediate dissatisfaction whenever he phased through her. The way she looked at him a little differently than she did at Reggie and Alex. A playlist full of love songs that she had curated, with a title that was their names smushed together. Her head on his chest yesterday. The soft noises she made when he touched her skin. But why had she never said anything? Surely she was more aware of these things than he was… She couldn’t be just as dense, could she?

***

Songs featured in this chapter:

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince by Taylor Swift

Your Eyes by Adam Pascal from the RENT Motion Picture Soundtrack

I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few of you had mentioned you wanted to hear more about Caleb. This is what I had originally written so I hope it's satisfactory. But, I may touch on more of what happened if I write another part.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed girl time/dude time/alone time. Lots of feels here. Chapter 4 coming sometime this weekend!


	4. Growing Pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh... Hi!!! Holy cow, I realize that it's been a week since my last upload and all I can say is I'm sorry. Life gets in the way sometimes. I've seen a significant decrease in updates from some of my favorite JatP fanfics and it makes me sad so I am sorry if I have brought sadness into your life... but here's some sunshine Juke style! Without further ado, here is chapter 4.

Julie and Flynn were very brutally awoken by Maple first thing in the morning. She had pounced on Julie’s legs then laid across her lap and onto Flynn’s tummy. Grumbling, Flynn rolled out of bed and Maple bounded off behind her, making Julie groan again.

Flynn trudged down the stairs, opened the backdoor for the dog, and went into the kitchen to start the coffee. 7:35am, her mom would be home soon. She turned from the counter to Julie having emerged and started cleaning up the living room and the incriminating evidence of last night’s ‘festivities’.

Flynn smiled to herself. She was so lucky to have Julie as her best friend. “Good morning, love,” she said as she crossed the room, picking up bottles as she went. The Mike’s had treated them well last night after their movie.

“Good morning, my dearest. How's your head?” Julie asked. Flynn’s usual hangover started with a splitting headache, and depending on severity, additional symptoms would hit her throughout the first few hours of being awake.

“I actually feel fine. I need a cup of coffee, but I feel good. You?” She responded as she dumped the returnables in the bin. She went back to the living room and started to fold up the blankets that had been scattered on the furniture.

Julie brought the trash in her hands to the garbage bin and turned back to Flynn, “I feel good, too. Like I can do anything I want today.” She smiled brightly as she turned to wash her hands.

“Good. Cause you have to do something you might not want to,” Flynn mocked as she joined her friend. Forever grateful that Julie always helped her clean up in the morning, and thankful that they were pretty good at not making a mess anyway. It’d been like 5 minutes and everything was back to the way her mother left it. They were a great team.

“Ugh, does it have to be today?” Julie grabbed for the biggest coffee cup in the cupboard, one that had a giant sunflower on the side with a big F next to it. 

Flynn crossed her arms and popped her hip out. “Yes, because I plan on telling Reggie that I think he’s cute. So, you need to talk to Luke about the fact that you _love_ him,” Flynn grabbed another cup out of the cupboard and went to the fridge to get their creamer. 

“Ugh. Then can we hang out here a little longer? I think I need more Maple cuddles before I’m ready to return to my boys.”

Flynn just smiled and shook her head at her friend. They went and plopped down on the couch, Flynn calling for her pup. Okay, maybe dog snuggles did make tackling your day a bit easier. “Oh Maple, who's the best girl!” They were ready to catch the flying poof ball this time around.

***

Luke’s eyes fluttered open, the sun breaking through the curtains in the room. When did the studio get so bright? As his consciousness caught up with him, he remembered that he was waking up in Julie’s room. He had never slept so good. It’d been almost 26 years since he’d slept on a bed. He rolled over and smiled to himself for a bit, enjoying how rested he was feeling.

Soon, his eyes started wandering around her room again, noticing his song book had been placed on top of her desk. He must have left it in here after their last session. He smiled softly to himself, a little piece of him within the room that was the embodiment of her. There’s no hurt in writing while he waits for Julie to come home or the guys to come hunt him down. Maybe it would calm his nerves a bit. 

He leapt up to grab it and flung himself back onto her bed. He shuffled around a bit until he was comfy enough and found a blank page, having the first line already swimming around his brain.

_‘I can't find a wall to pin this to, They're all coming down since I've found you.’_

He looked to her night stand, the picture of her and her mom still next to her bed. His heart would always ache for the girl in that picture. The little girl that didn’t know pain or heartbreak yet… The little girl that had her mom. The little girl that had so much to do. “There’s a million things you haven’t done…” Luke sang out loud to the photo, the Hamilton line having stuck with him. It was corny, but it was true. He knew that little girl was going to do great things, but he just wished her mom would be there to witness them all. He felt guilty for getting the opportunity while she didn’t.

_‘Let me help you fly, 'Cause you won't have time, To cover your eyes, Or get your disguise, They won't ask you why, They'll just watch you die’_

For so long, Luke considered the best thing in his life to be music. But now, thinking about Julie, he could see where John Lennon was coming from when he left the Beatles. Thankfully, Luke didn’t see something like that happening any time soon. Music is first in his life… But, for so long it was missing something. His music needed her.

_‘Let me light up the sky, Light it up for you, Let me make this mine, I'll ignite for you’_

Luke was tapping against his notebook when he heard a car door close from the driveway. He went to the window and saw Julie waving to Flynn’s car as she backed down into the street. He was suddenly extremely nervous… What if everything he thought he’d figured out was wrong… Juke could just be like short for Jukebox or something… Maybe it was a new slang term he hadn’t learned yet… It didn’t matter that all the songs on the playlist were love songs… he could still be wrong.

He laid back down on Julie’s bed, taking deep breaths to center himself. She had basically told him she was expecting him to hang out in here, and be on her bed. Would she be okay that he slept on her bed? Was he overthinking this? He opened his book back up, put one of his earbuds in to try to give off a nonchalant, I didn’t even know you were home type vibe. He pressed play without choosing a song, in case she was almost here. 

She made it to the top of the stairs just as Luke took one last deep breath. She came through the door, her eyes glued to her phone, humming the melody to a song he didn’t recognize. She locked her screen and looked up, realizing Luke was laying on her bed, a blue blanket draped over him, with his head in his song book and his headphones in. 

_‘You know I want you, it’s not a secret I try to hide. I know you want me, so don’t keep saying our hands are tied’_

“Fucking a” he mutters to himself. He pulls the earbud out and looks up at Julie, acting surprised to see her. “Oh, hey you.” 

“Hey yourself,” Julie smiled at him, going to sit on the bed next to him, leaning over his shoulder trying to look at the page. “What’re you working on?” 

Luke rolls over on his back and pulls the notebook close to his chest, “it’s a secret, for now.” He gave her a thousand watt smile and a knowing wink. “How was your night with Flynn?” 

“It was exactly what we needed… I feel so refreshed and accomplished,” she couldn’t help what came out of her mouth, it was the 100% truth. They had accomplished a lot and her soul felt lighter, like nothing could drag her down today. “We finished a song I’d been working on forever.” 

“Oh. That’s great,” he shot her a small smile, it having none of his usual magic. He knew he shouldn’t be hurt, but last time they wrote together, she told him she hadn’t had anything else for them to work on. Clearly, she just didn’t want his help with it.

“Luke, hey what’s wrong?” Julie leaned over him again, her hand resting on the mattress in the space between his ribs and his arm. 

He caught her gaze and she caught her breath. “It’s nothing, Jule. Promise.” He sent a half-assed smirk her way but he could tell she wasn’t buying it. 

“Don’t lie to me, Luke…” she held his gaze, her voice no more than a whisper. Here she was, so close to him… So close to everything she wanted. “Please,” she managed. 

Luke couldn’t help but have thoughts about closing the gap between them… She was so close. His eyes shifted to her lips and then back up to her chocolate pools. He felt his arm release the notebook he had still been clutching to his chest, lifting itself up, ever so slowly toward Julie’s face. He touched her cheek and he watched her eyes close in the most delightful way. 

“Julie! You’re not going to get any bacon if you don’t get down here right now!” Carlos hollered from the bottom of the stairs. 

Luke felt the bubble around them break. He dropped his hand and cleared his throat. “I’m fine, I promise. I’ll meet you downstairs…” and he was gone. Julie heard him walk through the front door and basically shout “did someone say bacon?”

Julie shook her head and pulled the pillow Luke had been cuddling to her face. She yelled her frustrations out into it, then leaned up and fixed her hair. Just because he drove her crazy, didn’t mean that he had the right to know right away… She had just admitted it out loud yesterday, meaning she was still within full right to want to process it a bit more by herself. She hopped off her bed and made her way downstairs. She was met with all of her guys at the table, and with Flynn. “I thought you went home?” 

Julie took the open seat between her BFF and Alex. Luke couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed she didn’t take the empty chair next to him. She had just spent all night with Flynn… He shook his head, reminding himself that he had no right to feel this way.

“I caught your dad at the end of his run and he invited me for breakfast. I know there’s only Poptarts and oatmeal at my dad’s, so I wasn’t turning this down. Plus, I definitely gotta see if Reggie has these skills he keeps bragging about,” she nudged him with her other shoulder. “But, I gotta jet afterward, we’re having coffee with Samantha, my dad’s new client. Not sure why I need to be there, but my presence is quote unquote mandatory.”

Ray and Carlos joined them, everyone readily joining hands. Ray took a deep breath. A moment later, he found his strength, “Lord, thank you for bringing these wonderful kids into my life. Thank you for allowing me to share my table, my home, and my life with them. Amen.” 

Carlos gave his dad’s hand a firm squeeze while the table gave a chorus of “amen”. The party of eight immediately started digging in. Reggie had been watching Ray cook a big breakfast every weekend since they landed, and whenever he could he was watching cooking shows. He had asked Ray yesterday if he could try making breakfast, and Carlos had been more than willing to offer to be his sous-chef. 

The boys had made waffles from scratch, bacon, and got out the leftover fruit salad from yesterday. So it wasn’t the smorgasbord that Ray had presented yesterday, but Reggie and Carlos were proud of themselves. “Bon appetit!” Reggie really hoped that everything was as good as it seemed to him. He smiled as his new found family set into a groove that worked for all of them, talking and passing food. And complimenting him and Carlos as they ate.

Once everyone was mostly done, Alex caught eyes with Willie, then gestured to Julie and Flynn. Willie perked up and cleared his throat, “so, uh. We have some news to share with you girls.”

Julie looked up from her bacon and looked at Flynn before both girls turned their attention to the skater boy. 

“Hollywood Ghost Club is under new management, and Caleb has been removed from his perch of power. No more evil ghosts around town!” Willie exclaimed, his eyes crinkling from his smile reaching them.

“Oh my god! Willie that’s amazing! When did this happen?” Julie couldn’t believe their luck. First the guys gained some solidity and now they didn’t have to worry about Caleb trying to come back for them. 

“When I went in for my shift yesterday, _Prince_ relieved me of my obligations and told me that all positions were now strictly voluntary. I got my soul back,” Willie was absolutely beaming, and Julie was 100% sure that Alex was holding his hand under the table. It was such a sweet gesture. 

“Well, I’m SO happy for you!” Julie reached across Alex and put her hand over theirs on Willie’s leg. “For both of you,” she whispered to Alex. 

***

After everyone was done eating, Flynn kissed Julie’s forehead and ruffled Reggie’s hair before approaching the front door. “I hate to dine and dash, but I mustn't keep father waiting! See you tomorrow, Jules. Love you! Thanks Ray!” And with that, she was gone.

Julie chuckled to herself and started clearing the table. Clearly, they would need to get used to not having leftovers. She took empty plates back to the kitchen, and she bent over to load the dishwasher. Ray and Alex helped her clear the table, bringing her dishes and putting things away. Luke couldn’t help but watch her from his seat, wondering when the right time for them to talk would be. 

“Dad, I think we may need to consider getting a larger table,” Julie smiled at the boys still draped across their chairs. 

Ray wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, “oh mija, I think there’s going to be a lot of changes around here. I think we’ll need another couch, too. And where are the guys going to sleep now that they actually need to?” 

Julie leaned into his embrace and smiled as he kissed her head. “So many things are changing, papi. Thanks for being so understanding and accepting of… everything.” 

“I’m not sure why all this is happening, but I have no doubt it was supposed to. These boys… they’re special. And you are special, my baby. Go, be with your friends. Let me clean up.” With that, he gently pushed her back to the table. 

Carlos gave Julie the whole run down of how last night went, even admitting that Willie had kicked his butt at Smash Bros. Ray couldn’t help but watch them all. His heart was absolutely bursting. But, he did have a lot of things to consider now that the guys were visible and tangible. He’d get through it and find the best way for everything to work out, but living with six teenagers did seem like a daunting task in itself. One step at a time, he promised himself.

***

Alex and Willie decide to take a trip to the Santa Monica Pier, finally able to go wherever they want without worrying if one of Caleb’s minions would see them and report back. Ray has a shoot to do for a realty company and Reggie offered (begged) to tag along. He seems to be showing a real interest in Ray’s work, which Ray appreciated. 

Carlos stretched and announced “I have some homework that I need to catch up on before tomorrow.”

“Oh crap. I do, too. I completely forgot after… everything that happened this weekend. I have a paper to write on The Giver and I’ve got like two pages done. And it’s midterms this week. Ugh!” Julie flopped back onto the couch and threw her hands over her face, effectively going in the exact opposite direction she should be.

“Well, I did a paper on that book not that long ago, if you want help. English was my best subject,” Luke offered. Any excuse to spend some time with her, he thought. 

Julie turned to him, “you have a get out of high school free card, and you’re going to give that up to help me?” 

“Anything for you, Julie. Homework is nothing. Plus, I’m sure it’ll earn me some brownie points with Ray, so think of it as a selfish act. And! The sooner you get done with your homework, the sooner we could do something that doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out. Double selfish,” he winked at her and offered his hand to her. It had been far too long since he had felt her skin on his. 

Julie smirked at him. Ray _would_ like that he is offering to help her with school, instead of encouraging her to ditch. ‘School first’ had become his catch phrase. “Alright, ghost boy. You win. I’ll do my homework.” She took his hand and suddenly they were in her room.

“DID YOU JUST… Poof me?!” Julie ripped her hand away from his, holding it close to her chest.

“I didn’t mean to! But… Julie that’s so fucking cool!” Luke held his hands out to her, “here let's try again!” He was almost vibrating with excitement.

“Nuh-uh. Nope. Homework time. ‘School first’, remember? Ghost power testing can come later.” And so they got to work. Her paper needed to be at least five pages, double spaced. She had about one and a half done. 

***

Luke was a surprisingly good resource. He even admitted that he had read this book for fun, then ended up doing a paper on it by choice. After she hit all of her points and reached her page count, he proofread it for her, and saved her from a few grammatical errors. 

“Break time?” He looked at her hopefully. He reeeally wanted to try out this new development. 

“Are you sure this is safe?” Julie had to admit that it was at least worth testing, but that didn’t make her any less cautious. 

“Nope, but nothing bad has happened to us so far… Except Reggie’s shirt took a few minutes to catch up once. But that was while we were still new to it.. It’ll be fine.” He offered his hands out to her, “do you trust me?”

Julie smiled softly at him and hovered her hands above his, as she had done so many times before. She took a breath and nodded, “always” she said confidently, watching as her hands met his. He pulled her close before Julie could process anything else and she squeezed her eyes shut. The next thing she felt was a tingling sensation, followed by Luke pulling away from her. When she opened her eyes, they were in her mom’s studio. “Oh my god!” 

Luke jumped around, shouting, almost howling. “Julie!! Do you know what this means!?”

“Sneaking out just got so much easier?” Julie chuckled as he continued his theatrics. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do you want to try going somewhere else?” 

“Really? Yes! Where did you have in mind? I think we should slowly go farther and farther away, in case it has a limit.” Luke really couldn’t explain his excitement, but he had an electricity going inside him that he just couldn’t shake. It was like he realized that he had been in the shade and was suddenly seeing the sun for the first time. “Whatever you want, Jules,” he shot her his thousand watt smile and locked eyes with her, “wherever.”

Julie held her hands out to him, “where you lead, I will follow.” 

She had never seen Luke move so fast, as he reached to take her hands. She didn’t even have time to laugh at him before they were on the beach where Luke had been the night prior. Julie looked around quizzically, “where are we?” 

Luke blushed slightly and went to scratch the back of his neck with one hand, the other still holding Julie’s. “Just a spot I found last night… I had some really good epiphanies and a couple song ideas.”

“Oh yeah? Anything you’d like to share?”

“Just that I don’t know how long this is going to last for…” He turned to look out into the ocean, wondering if now was the time, if it would ever be right. “And I just want to make the best of it, I guess. This is my second chance.” He waited for something, anything. A squeeze, a look, anything that would indicate she had any thoughts about his future here. When nothing happened, he sighed a bit and attempted to change the subject. “Hey, is Billy Joel still around?” 

“Uh… uh yeah. He does a monthly show at Madison Square Garden. That’s a dream show right there. _The_ piano man. I would die.” Julie had grown up listening to every kind of music, but her mom had a thing for the guy. He was a keystone in her musical education. She realized she was zoning and tried to get back to their conversation. 

Luke scanned the horizon for some courage, some strength to help him form the words, but nothing seemed like what should be coming out of his mouth. “Maybe if all three of us try, we could poof you to New York so we could see him in person.” He decided to just run past the point. He knew it wasn’t exactly the best course of action, but he couldn’t allow himself to do this right now, it wasn’t the right time. 

“Uh, yeah… Maybe some more tests first.” Julie knew he was ignoring something important, but she wasn’t going to push him. She gave his hand a little squeeze and she leaned onto his arm. “Hey, Luke?”

He leaned his head against hers, inhaling the mix of salt air with her conditioner. “Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you’re still here…” She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist, still looking out into the water. A moment later, Julie felt Luke’s arms wrap around her shoulders and he kissed the top of her head.

“Me, too Jules. I would have never forgiven myself for leaving you.” It wasn’t an all out admission of anything, but he hoped it got his point across. Julie was the only thing in his world worth protecting. The only thing he’d fight fate and the universe for. Julie was all he needed, and he needed her to know that, even if he couldn’t say it.

The two stood there in silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing where things were going. Hell they didn’t even know where they were. But, they knew the other was there, at least in the now. And that was enough for the time being.

***

A few other, slightly farther jumps later, Julie and Luke poofed back into her house. They both had gotten hungry and neither of them had any money on them. Julie also had midterms this week she needed to study for. Luke told her he’d cook, and she raised an eyebrow at him, “you can cook?” He shot her a smirk that she was realizing was only for her, and little did he know that it absolutely melted her heart. 

“Oh, Molina there are so many things you don’t know about me,” something overcame him, and suddenly he was biting his lip and winking at her. He turned around to raid the cupboards, trying to put together something to eat. 

Julie swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. Suddenly, the only thing she could think about was Luke biting his lip and what he would look like shirtless. One thing she didn’t know about him was what his stomach looked like… She knew it had to be muscular, from what she’d seen of his body, he was all over. What would it feel like to run her hands all over him? Just as he turned around, she shook her head to clear it and he raised an eyebrow at her. “You okay, Jules?”

“Mmhmm. Yup. All is good here. Uh… I’m gonna go see if Carlos wants to eat too… I’ll uh, I’ll be back,” Julie stumbled over both her words and her feet as she made her way to the base of the staircase. She all but ran up them, out of sight before Luke could react to her odd behavior. 

Julie stopped a moment as she turned from the stairs, trying to recover from her fantasy and from her rushed exit. She knocks on Carlos’ door and doesn’t get a response. As soon as the door is opened, Julie starts panicking at its emptiness. She runs to her bedroom to get her phone. As she unlocks the screen to call Carlos, she notices two new text messages. 

_Carlos: Finished my homework, going to Maxwell’s house to play video games and for dinner. Have fun with your “homework” ;)_

Julie let out a deep breath, and was suddenly extremely relieved. Carlos was okay and she would need to remember to let him know when she was leaving the house. 

She looked at the other one quickly. It was from her dad.

_Ray: Hey Julie, it’s Reggie for your dad. We’re stuck in traffic and still haven’t gotten to the location. We’ll probably be home late. Have a good night!_

She didn’t have long to enjoy the peace the text messages had given her, because before she could process another thought, she was slightly terrified. She had the house to herself… with Luke… for at least a few hours. Another large gulp. No, this is not the time for these thoughts. She had no idea how he was feeling, he had to be going through just as much if not more than she was, since he was the one that was going to cease to exist if he made a mistake. No, she wouldn’t pressure him into anything just because she was getting sexy thoughts about him. Very, very sexy thoughts. 

She took a deep breath and went downstairs, informing Luke that Carlos was at a friend’s house and Ray and Reggie would be late. He nodded, acknowledging her without actually responding. How could he? He was alone in a house with Julie… And all he wanted to do was touch her. It hadn’t even been more than a few minutes and already he was missing her skin. He knew this was going to quickly become a bigger problem if he didn’t control himself now. 

Unknown to him, Julie felt the call to touch him as well. She sauntered over to where he stood at the stove and leaned around him, pressing her face to his well defined arm. They both closed their eyes softly at the contact. So much for him controlling himself. “Whatcha makin?” She asked him curiously. 

He looked over his shoulder at her. “Fajita stuffed peppers. I may have to admit that Flynn got me on some app called ‘pintrest.’ There are so many recipes on there… But I’ve always loved stuffed peppers and these looked so good. And, bonus, we had all the stuff to make it” he explained to her as he stirred the chopped chicken. He had a pot cooking some rice on another burner and some green peppers on the counter. 

“Can I help at all?” Julie asked, going to the sink to wash her hands in preparation. 

“Nope, not a bit. Sit and enjoy.” He said to her as he started cutting the green peppers in half and deseeding them.

“But…” She started, but he quickly cut her off.

“Let someone else take care of you for once, Jules.” The look he gave her was about more than helping cook dinner, but she couldn’t place it. She was about to attempt to argue again, but she knew it would be pointless. She got herself a drink and sat down at one of the stools on the other side of the island.

“Sorry, I just… Haven’t been able to do that for a while.. I haven’t had anyone to take care of me,” Julie wasn’t sure why it hurt so bad to realize the truth in her words. She’d even admitted to Flynn last night that she was the ‘mom friend’, and was okay with it… Maybe it just was different to see someone who _wanted_ to take care of her. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back in the chair, suddenly finding her cup very interesting.

Luke was immediately at her side, “well now you’ve got me.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. She allowed her arms to wrap around his hips. “I’m not going anywhere Jules… I promise. This is where I want to be, with every fiber of my being…” 

And suddenly Julie was crying. He wasn’t sure what happened, but she tightened her hold on him so he had a feeling it wasn’t her reacting to what he said, but to something else. He ran his hand over her hair, kissing the top of her head. Her breath was still shaky, so he started humming the melody he started forming in his head earlier. Another lyric coming to his mind, praying he could commit it to memory until he could write it down.

_‘And it's still so hard to be who you are, So you play this part, And the show goes on, But you've come this far with a broken heart’_

“I was so scared, Luke… I had come to terms with the fact that I was never going to see you again after that show… Bu-but it still scared the hell out of me. I was terrified that I’d never get to see you again. How crazy is that? How selfish…” Julie turned in on herself, her hold on Luke relaxing. He knew these signs, and he ached for that little girl in the picture again, the one who didn’t always think she was the problem. 

“You want to know who is selfish? Me. I was selfish. When we went to find someone to help us get revenge on Bobby, it was me who led the charge. Alex and Reggie weren’t really 100% on board, but they backed me up… Julie, everything was my fault. Because I couldn’t let the past go.” He squeezed her tightly again, trying to encourage her to re-tighten her hold on him. “Julie, you are the most selfless person I know. You commit time to your family. You have a best friend who _loves_ you, and is always there for you. You let three ghosts crash land into your life, convince you to frontman their band, and then give them your blessing to try to go to the otherside? None of that was for your benefit, Julie. Every moment has been your gift to us…”

“Luke… I didn’t want you to go… I couldn’t be happy for you, I was so mad when I thought you crossed over. I thought it was just someone else leaving me behind.”

He pulled away from her enough to hold her face in his hands. “I couldn’t be happy for me either… Knowing that us leaving was hurting you, was the worst feeling I could imagine. I’m so sorry we caused you so much pain. I’m sorry _I_ caused you so much pain. 

“I’m just glad you’re here now. I am so lucky that you’re all here with me.” She looked down at his neck, unable to hold his gaze any more without closing the gap between them. She sniffed again, this time her eyes widening. “Luke, the chicken!” 

“Fuck!” He poofed to the other side of the island again and let out a huge sigh. Thankfully, before he poofed over to her, he had turned the heat down and it was just starting to overcook at the edges of the pan. He took it off the heat to cool down a bit as he stirred everything. “Phew” he said out loud. He would have been pissed if he ruined this, but he was thankful for that moment between the two of them. 

He prepped the rest of the peppers and finished the filling. Just as he sprinkled some cheese on top, the oven beeped, telling them it was done preheating. He closed the oven door and when he leaned back up he jumped. “Gah. Fuck guys!” Alex and Willie had appeared at the island with Julie and the three of them started laughing at his reaction. “Haha, very funny.” 

“Oh come on, Luke! We come bearing good news,” Willie wiggled his eyebrows at the end.

Julie perked up a bit.

“So apparently, it is midterm week, and on Saturday there’s going to be a huge party on the beach,” Alex could barely get out without jumping up and down.

“Yeah, we do that every year. It’s like the prom we all actually want. The juniors all pitch together to finance so the seniors can have a final spring break’. I planned a killer party last year,” Julie smirked, seeming to recall some fond memories. 

“Julie, can we come?!” Alex looked like a golden retriever, puppy dog eyes out in full force. 

“I don’t see why not… I’ll check with Flynn if she thinks it’s a good idea too since you guys have corrupted my decision making skills. But I think it could be fun. Kids from all over L/A show up, so no one knows _everyone_.” Julie couldn’t find a flaw with this plan, and thought it would be a good opportunity for her to have a normal interaction with Luke. Before she told him how she felt, she wanted to show him she wasn’t the perfect girl he thought she was. He needed to know who she was outside of her dad’s watchful eye. 

Julie got up to call Flynn while the boys talked about what Luke was cooking. Thankfully, the recipe made enough for four. They just needed to wait about half an hour for them to finish cooking in the oven. Julie’s house had Alexa, which would have creeped him out if she wasn’t so helpful. “Alexa, set a 25 minute timer.” 

They all moved to the living room while they waited. Julie joined them, flopping into her dad’s recliner and she gave her report, “Flynn said it would be a great opportunity for the band, so we are all now required to show. But, we need to take you boys shopping this week to find you something new to wear. The 90s may be back, but it’s a little modernized.” What Julie left out of her recap with Flynn was that the girls had decided that was the perfect opportunity to tell, or rather show, the guys how they felt. They would need to hit the mall without them at some point, too. 

She found something they could watch on Netflix while they waited and while they ate. Once she finished her wonderful lunch, she lost herself in planning her perfect outfit for the weekend. There were going to be a lot of people at this thing, she needed to make sure that she would… catch his attention. Oh, this week was going to be fun. 

***

Songs featured in this chapter:

Luke’s song is Light Up the Sky by Yellowcard

Rewrite the Stars by Zac Efron & Zendaya from The Greatest Showman Soundtrack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff, not a lot of plot here. I will hopefully get chapter 5 up this weekend for you guys. Thank you so much for all your support, it means so much.  
> Love always,  
> xoxoMizz West.


	5. Antici...pation

Monday and Tuesday had been whirlwinds, leaving Julie exhausted and begging for the weekend, for more reasons than her and Flynn’s plans. Between midterms, studying for midterms, band practice, and their new household increase, Julie hadn’t had time to breathe let alone think. Thankfully, Wednesday she didn’t have any tests so she felt like she could slow down for a bit. She had lunch and then two music periods with Flynn to end her day, so she wouldn’t be completely miserable when they got home. She couldn’t be if she wanted to. Today was the day they were taking the guys to the mall. It will be their first public appearance in 25 years, minus their performances. Today they weren’t Julie and the Phantoms, and they weren’t Sunset Curve. Today they were just a bunch of kids getting ready for a beach party. 

Flynn drove them to Julie’s house after school, but they needed to borrow Ray’s van to get everyone to the mall. They checked in with Ray to get the keys, and his credit card. Julie gave him an extra big hug and an over exaggerated “I love you, papi” before they swiftly left the house. All six of them piled in and headed out. 

Willie insisted on pulling Alex away as soon as they got there, saying not to worry that he could cover them. Apparently, the HGC pays in lifer money if you so choose. He was  _ confident _ he would be best at helping Alex pick out clothes for a party. Reggie and Luke ushered them off then wrapped an arm around each other’s shoulders. 

“Our boy is growing up so fast,” Reggie faked a sniffle.

“Feels like it was just yesterday he had his first crush,” Luke wiped a fake tear from his eye. The two boys laughed and then turned their attention to the ladies giving them strange looks. “Oh don’t judge us, we’re happy for him!” 

“Albeit a little jealous. Have you seen Willie’s hair? Magnificent,” Reggie runs his fingers through his own hair for emphasis. 

Flynn and Julie each grab the arm of their guy and turn them toward the closest store. “Your destinies await.” Flynn gestured toward the doorway. Luke and Reggie went in with the girls in tow.

***

The boys were not prepared to be at the mall for three hours. The boys were also not prepared to leave with entire wardrobes for themselves (apparently the girls were simply following ‘Ray’s orders’ to stock them up on more modern clothes. Luke got it, but he didn’t feel he deserved all this… He appreciated it though, and he’d make sure that Ray knew that). Finally, the boys were not prepared to completely crash from exhaustion as soon as they got into the studio.

“I can’t believe girls do this for fun… I’m beat,” Reggie said from his position on the floor.

Alex was lumped onto the couch, definitely having looked less exhausted every other day of his afterlife. “I can’t say I’d ever like to do that again. As nice as it was to spend some time doing normal people things… A movie sounds nice, too.” He looked at Willie, hoping he could convince him to go on a real date soon. 

“So, I take it no one wants to join us while  _ we _ go to the mall tomorrow?” Flynn asked, eyebrows raised, almost if to challenge the guys. A chorus of ‘no’s’ started, and it was music to Julie’s ears. Their plan was officially in motion. Tomorrow would be such a long day, filled with an amount of anticipation, excitement, and nervousness that could probably stop a train. Everything would be in place this time tomorrow, she told herself. 

It’ll be great. 

She hoped.

***

Julie was so close to asking Flynn if they could just skip their last period, but she had promised her dad that she would take school more seriously. Not only that, but she didn’t want to hurt her plans for the weekend by doing something wreckless and stupid like skipping an hour long period. Not worth it.

The final bell rang and she was at her locker in an instant. She waited until she saw Flynn round the corner, then fell in step with her, their arms interlocking as they went. “So, what is your vision for our ensembles this weekend, my darling?” Julie always let Flynn style them for important events, as she was way more into fashion than Julie was. She hadn’t let them down yet. 

“Well, I have a couple ideas. Obviously we aren’t going for the ‘everyone look at me’ effect, we have very specific eyes we are looking for. But, I am still torn on the exact path to take. Part of me wants to just let the clothes do the talking, along with our fabulous dance moves, and obviously a little intoxication. Or, we tone the outfits down a bit and do the talking ourselves. Thoughts?” She slung her backpack into the back and climbed into the driver's seat, Julie following on the passenger side. 

“Well…” Julie weighed the options. On one hand, she could look super sexy and sultry and blow Luke’s mind (he’s never seen that side of her…) or she could go ‘girl next door - beach edition’. She turned to her friend with a wicked look in her eye, “lets knock their socks off.” 

“Wooo!!” Flynn howled, “that’s my girl!!” They discussed options and details as they drove to the mall. 

***

Julie had tried on about thirty pairs of denim shorts when she found  _ the ones _ . They were a midrise, showing off just enough of her toned stomach, with a little bit of distressing. They definitely fit her a little snug but just in the right way. “Flynn!! We have a winner.” She left the changing room and waited in front of the door.

She was in the stall next to Julie and popped her head out. “Oh my god, girl!!! Yes. Yes. All the yes. Luke’s gonna drown in the drool. What do you think of this?” Flynn came out from behind her door in a red, long sleeve crop top that was flowy in all the right ways, and a pair of jean shorts with black lace laid into the distressing. 

Julie’s jaw dropped. There was her best friend, and she looked like a goddess. “Flynn, you are leaving with that outfit. No arguments. Reggie will lose his damn mind! And that would look amazing with his leather jacket over it,” she sent a wink Flynn’s way. 

Flynn blushed a bit. It was a very silly thing to admit, but Flynn had always considered the ‘giving of the sweatshirt’ phase of a relationship to be the best part. When she had dated Connor junior year, she had never felt so cherished as she had when he wrapped his letterman jacket around her. “I definitely wouldn’t say no to that. And I may be hoping into existence a chilly breeze so I can con him out of it. Also, don’t let the guys know, but I totally bribed the kid who’s DJing to play some countryish music. Nothing too twangy, but it’s something.”

“You’re the best person I know,” Julie smiled at her friend before she was sent back into her changing room. She had found her shorts, now she needed to put the rest of her outfit together. 

She came out a few moments later, and this time was Flynn’s turn to see her bestie as beauty in human form. Julie emerged wearing a pure white, lace bralette top that went down to her natural waist, leaving an amount of skin showing that would hopefully fit  _ someone’s _ hand nicely. She had a black kimono type cardigan over it that hit just below where the shorts ended; it was accented with teal flowers near the hems. “Jules…” was all she could get out. 

Julie smiled at her friend and gave her a wink as she turned in a circle. “I know right?! I look so good!” 

The girls hugged excitedly and grabbed a couple other items, knowing they needed to get some stuff they  _ could _ show her dad. They left the store and headed to their final destination: the nail salon. The girls always got a mani/pedi when they needed some extra confidence, and this was certainly going to be one of those occasions. Having your nails freshly done definitely helped make a girl a little more of a boss ass bitch. 

Since Julie still needed to play, she went with a short extension, reaching just barely past the end of her finger while Flynn lived for a mid length coffin nail, each coordinating their nails with their outfits, and as always getting a black polish on their toes. They left feeling fierce as hell and ready to take on the world. 

When they got back to Julie’s house, they ran upstairs then came back down in a new outfit, supposedly their ‘outfits’ for the party. They were each wearing a black pair of palazzo pants, Julie’s with purple mandalas on them and Flynn’s with green, and a tight, white v-neck crop top. They definitely looked beach ready and still really cute. All the guys gave them a lot of compliments, even applauding as they did a little cat walk. Ray smiled and gave his blessing for the outfits, taking his credit card back from Julie. The girls gave each other a knowing look, one that said this was too easy. 

As they went upstairs to change, Carlos and Ray left to go to a baseball fundraiser. Flynn stayed for dinner so the six of them could over the plan for Saturday. Flynn and Julie would get ready at Flynn’s house and they’d send an Uber to pick the guys up at 7. After they finished eating, Flynn went home to study for her final midterm tomorrow. Alex and Willie were going to a movie in one of the nearby parks (clearly Willie had gotten the hint from the night before). Making sure everything was cleaned up, Julie plopped herself on the couch, Luke and Reggie joining her, one on each side of her. She found something to watch on Netflix, settling on the show Warrior Nun. 

As always, Julie found herself feeling so relaxed around her guys. They kept leaning on each other and eventually Julie was basically laying on Luke, with Reggie’s head in her lap and his legs hanging over the arm of the couch. Julie had been absent mindedly running her hands through Reggie’s hair until she heard a soft snoring coming from him. She smiled at him and stilled her hand, making sure to keep contact. Luke had an arm wrapped around Julie and was rubbing circles into her arm. She had lost the ability to pay attention to the show long ago, losing herself in the feeling of his touch. 

**Are you still there?** The screen asked. 

Luke turned off the TV and watched Julie softly ruffle Reggie’s hair, and then his shoulder in attempts to wake him up. He seemed to be dead to the world. Luke knew better. He leaned into Julie’s ear and told her to close her eyes. They landed on Julie’s bed in her dark room. 

“It takes a lot more than some shaking to wake Reggie up when he’s snoring,” he spoke in a hushed voice as he unwrapped his arms from around her shoulders. 

Instead of moving away from him like he expected, she seemed to settle in to him more and she gently stopped his arms from leaving her. She mirrored his soft volume when she shyly asked “can we… stay like this a little longer?” She hadn’t let someone hold her like this since the last time her mom had crawled in bed with her, about two months before she passed. 

Luke happily obliged, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “Anything for you, Jules. You know that.” He leaned forward slightly to get more comfortable. He made sure Julie was comfortable, then he kissed the top of her head. 

“Thank you… for being so supportive, Luke. You don’t know what it means to me…” she trailed off, cutting herself short. Instead, she focused on tracing patterns on his arms. “I just don’t know what I did to deserve you.” 

“You were you, Julie. That’s enough for the universe to owe you everything.” He closed his eyes as he continued to rest his head against hers. He couldn’t help but notice how well their bodies fit together, and how easy it was to find peace with her in his arms. 

They lay there in silence for a bit, both losing themselves in their thoughts. Their fingers eventually got tired of drawing, instead winding themselves together. Luke gave her a small squeeze and then heard a faint snore come from her. A soft smile spread across his face and he pressed it to her hair. “Sweet dreams, Jules.” 

He was about to poof out to the studio, but he felt her hand tighten around him. Luke waited a moment to see if she was going to do anything else. Again, he was about to leave and her hand tightened again. “Luke _. Stay. _ ” He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly, until she rolled over and cuddled further into him, wrapping an arm around his stomach. “ _ Please _ .” That’s all it took before he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. 

Luke once again kissed her head, silently giving her his answer. He felt her press a soft kiss to his chest, and he was sure his heart was going to burst. This was one of the moments lately that made him question if he had indeed crossed over, because this very clearly was his heaven. He felt her place a few more kisses to his t-shirt in the minutes before he fell asleep. He really hoped that Ray wouldn’t find them like this, but even if he did, it would definitely be worth it. 

***

Julie was woken up by her alarm going off, telling her it was time to get up and ready for school. It took her a minute to register what was going on, until her eyes softened and she looked up, the soft smile on his face greeting her, his hands running through her hair. She had asked him to stay and he had, all night long. 

“Good morning, Lucas.” She giggled to herself as she rolled toward her edge of the bed to snooze her phone, going to stand up so she could stretch. 

He wasn’t having that, and he reached for her, grabbing her waist and pulling her back to him. He whispered into her ear, “good morning, Julianna,” he purred her name and put a very sensual accent on it, sending a shiver down her spine. With a rush of confidence, he placed a kiss on the skin just behind her ear before he poofed away. 

Julie felt his presence leave before she allowed herself to moan softly. With any luck, there would be more of his touches in her near future. She let herself revel in the moment until her alarm started going off again. Julie snoozed her phone and got up, deciding that she was ready to get today over with. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

***

Luke landed in the hammock and had to contain the howl he wanted to release. He had just held Julie all night long, then he kissed her neck this morning, simply because he actively wanted to drive her crazy. This girl was so addicting… She had to be bad for his health. But damnit if she wasn’t the best thing in his life. 

He rode the high of the night prior by manifesting his song book and writing down more lyrics to his new song. He was almost ready to put it all together, but it wasn’t quite right. He was hoping it could be ready for their band practice on Sunday, afterward which was when he planned on telling her how he felt, as long as it was finished by then. 

Luke spent the better part of the morning in the hammock, alternating between listening to music on his phone and working on the song. He didn’t really want anything too heavy weighing on him today so he ended up listening to the top songs of 2017 instead of one of her personal playlists. He was so excited for this party tomorrow, but more importantly he was excited to spend some time with Julie where she could be herself, since he knew she couldn’t fully do that here.

Around 10 o’clock he wandered into the studio, finding Willie, Alex, and Reggie playing a game of Sorry. He plopped down on the couch next to Reggie, who had three of his four pieces in his home. Alex and Willie each only had two. Luke leaned into the couch and rested his arms on the back. “So boys, how was the movie last night?”

“Luke it was amazing! You wouldn’t believe the quality of animation they can do now! And the plot itself was heart wrenching. It was so good.” Alex gushed a bit, but he couldn’t help it. The boys had always loved animated movies. Disney was their thing growing up. “This movie was from Disney and a company called ‘Pixar’. Willie said they were like the kings of animated movies, so we’re going to watch all of them, and then he is going to introduce me to something called ‘The Pixar Theory’.”

“It definitely held up to the Pixar name. There was a badass single mom, adventures, and some afterlife shit. And,” Willie paused for effect, then started doing jazz hands as he said his next word in a sing-song voice “magic”. 

Reggie and Luke looked at each other and shrugged, “sounds cool. Maybe we can all go see it sometime?” Reggie suggested. It would be nice to do some more average people things, like Alex had said after the mall. 

“That’d be cool. We could go to the drive-in! Flynn and Julie could each drive a car so we’d have plenty of room,” Willie got really excited. Drive in movies were his favorite, but obviously being a ghost he didn’t have access to a vehicle. 

The boys started conspiring as to what the best way to get the girls to agree to their plans was. Alex thought honesty would be good, but Reggie and Luke thought they would need some convincing. Reggie ended up winning their game, Luke joining them to play another round. After Alex wiped the floor with the boys during their second and third games, they decided they’d had enough board games for the day. 

Instead they moved to having a little jam session. These were some of their favorite moments, just vibing (a new word Flynn taught them) off each other and making each other better. Occasionally Luke would bow out a minute to write something in his book, always returning promptly and riffing in like he had never left. 

About an hour later Luke stopped playing to write something down, but instead of rejoining them, he held the book up like it was the most precious thing he’d ever touched. “Guys…” He looked up at them, meeting Alex’s eyes then Reggie’s. Both boys stopped playing, having only seen Luke react like this once before, when he finished ‘Unsaid Emily’. Only this time, he looked… giddy? “Have I told you guys that I realized that I love Julie?” 

All three guys around the room burst into fits of laughter. Reggie carefully pulled his bass off and set it in a stand before he folded over into a fit of laughter. “Really? We had no idea!” He barely got out between his cackling. 

“Willie, did  _ you _ know that Luke loves Julie?” Alex snickered between each word, wiping the tears starting to stream down his face. 

“Hey… okay, it isn’t like I didn’t know I  _ liked _ her… But I  _ love _ her guys. This is big time,” he stood his ground. He knew the guys were just teasing him, and he felt like he actually had a reason to be teased for once. He  _ had _ been fucking dense. “ _ Anyway… _ ” he rolled his eyes, waiting for them to at least quiet down. “I wrote her a song. And I need you guys to practice it with me so we can play it for her on Sunday.” 

“Oh, now we have news, Reginald! Why didn’t you say so, Lou? Lay it on us,” Alex poofed over to his drums, already spinning his drumsticks in anticipation. 

Luke got to work with the guys on what his vision for the song was. It was a lot more Sunset Curve than The Phantoms, but he felt so powerfully about how he needed it to sound. Lots of Alex killing it on the drums, and some good bass lines. Once they got the hang of things, Luke took a deep breath, telling them they’ll add the lyrics this time. 

He led them in on his guitar and then queued Alex to start on the drums. They went a little slower than Luke visioned, but they could certainly pick up the pace next time. They got to the first chorus and each of the guys started singing, really feeling the lines Luke had written. “Let me light up the sky, Light it up for you, Let me tell you why, I would die for you, Let me light up the sky.” Luke stopped and started them a few times, but overall they did really well. He told them to pick it up a little and then lead them in again. 

They were almost to the end of the song, and Luke’s heart was pounding. He queued the guys to drop out and he blacked out, singing and playing were all he could process at the moment. “Let me light up the sky, Light it up for you, Let me tell you why, I would die for you.”

Reggie joined back in, softly plucking at his bass. He leaned forward to add some backup vocals, ”Let me light up the sky, Light it up for you.”

Now Alex counted back in, all three of them harmonizing “Let me make this mine, I'll ignite for you, I'll ignite for you.”

The three finished out the song and Willie gave a standing ovation. “Luke, man, that was phenomenal! And you guys absolutely rocked it! Great job, Hotdog.” Willie winked softly at him, and bit his lip when Alex caught his gaze. 

“You guys think Julie will like it?” Luke asked meekly. Just because the guys loved it didn’t mean she would. 

Alex came around from his drums and patted his friend’s shoulder, “you have nothing to fear, my man.  _ Trust me _ .” The way he said his last words had Luke cocking an eyebrow at him. It totally wasn’t fair that the girls held claim to him, too. 

Even though they hadn’t gotten a lot of alone time lately, Flynn and Julie had clued Alex in to the plan for Saturday, figuring one of the guys needed to be aware of what was actually going on. Alex was in charge of making sure the guys were properly dressed and groomed when the car arrived. It wouldn’t be hard since they were just as excited to go out, each definitely hoping to impress a member of Team JatP. 

The guys, while very music oriented in their lifetime, also made a little time for social engagements. Networking was important after all. Mostly, Reggie and Luke liked to socialize while Alex loved to dance, meeting people that way, too. Bobby usually just found some group of girls to talk to. Just like drumming, dancing was music moving Alex’s body. He loved the freedom of it because there was no “wrong” way, everything was on the table. Since Alex wasn’t interested in the actual club or party experience, he just loved the atmosphere, he would volunteer to be the DD and always made sure the other three made it back to the studio safely. 

“I think you’re gonna knock her socks off, Luke. This is absolutely killer. Sunset Curve approved for sure!” Reggie offered up. 

***

Julie and Flynn sat together for lunch, finalizing the plans for the weekend. They would get ready at Flynn’s mom’s house because they could be there alone, then they would drive Flynn’s car to the beach where the party was. It could seem counterproductive since no one would be driving, but it was a good idea to have a place to keep their stuff. They would send an Uber to the Molina’s to pick the boys up and bring them to the beach. Was it a lot of prep work and planning, absolutely. But would it be worth it to see the look on the guys’ faces and avoid her father’s judgement? Yes. And would it be worth it to see Reggie and Luke’s faces when they see them at golden hour, on a beach, looking totally hot?  _ Fuck yes _ . 

They had everything planned, they just needed to glide their way to the end of the day and they were home free.  _ Spring break, here we come! _

Julie found out that she had passed all of her midterms, and got an A on the paper she had written with Luke’s help. She would have to make sure to tell her dad how helpful Luke was in her writing process, not just with music. 

Everything just seemed easier with Luke’s help. Cooking, cleaning, writing, studying… Everything. There wasn’t anything she could think of that he made harder, except controlling her impulses. He definitely made her put effort into that. But other than that, Julie really couldn’t think of anything but the good things Luke had brought into her life. He was always so kind and gentle, unless he needed to not be. A shudder went through her, thinking about the scene with Nick at the door (she hadn’t even tried to be subtle about avoiding and ignoring him since). The only word she could think of to describe Luke in that situation was  _ dominating,  _ and Julie had to put more effort than she’d care to admit to push  _ that _ thought to the back of her mind. 

Julie really couldn’t pay attention as she walked to her last class of the day. It wasn’t anything exciting, but chemistry at least usually took her mind off of things. Before she knew it, the bell was ringing and the principal was on the speaker wishing everyone a happy and safe vacation. 

Julie waited eagerly by her locker for Flynn and was practically jumping on their way out the door. “Operation: Juke and Fleggie is in full swing.” Flynn grimaced at the couple name Julie had retaliated with, but was trying to be a good sport. 

“So, what is on the agenda for this evening?” Flynn asked as they got in the car, waiting their turn to leave the parking lot. 

“I’m thinking movie night again? Dad’s going out with my tia to shop for a new table under the ruse that the dining table we have ‘reminds him too much of my mom’, which it kinda does, but a new one will still be missing her. But, that means dinner’s on us again and an empty house for a few hours. I cannot be left alone with Luke this close to the endgame… not after last night.” Julie blushed, thinking about laying in Luke’s arms all night, his equal parts earthy and beachy scent filling her nose and dreams all night. 

“Girl, spill!” Flynn exclaimed as they took a turn. “You better not have done anything to jeopardize all the effort I’ve put into making this mission a success.”

“No it’s nothing like that, Captain,” Julie responded rolling her eyes. “But, Luke, Reggie, and I fell asleep on the couch, so as to not disturb Reggie, Luke poofed us up to my room,” she got kinda flustered now, a blush creeping into her cheeks, “and... I kinda... asked him to stay with me. He was still there when I woke up.” She couldn’t help the giant smile that was coming across her cheeks. She had cuddled with Luke all night - how could she not be smiling?

“You waited ALL DAY to tell me this!?” Flynn looks at her, a hand on her chest, showing that her feelings had been hurt.

“I haven’t really seen you all day! It's not something I’m going to announce in English class!” She gently shoved Flynn’s leg, being careful since she was driving and Julie would like to make it to her 18th birthday. 

“Uh, lunch?” She offered up but was quickly tutted at.

“Uht, you insisted we finalize plans for tomorrow! It doesn’t matter, it happened and now you know and now I just want to wake up in his arms every day,” Julie admitted. No other guy in her life had ever made her feel like this… She wasn’t even aware you could feel this much for someone until Luke gave her reason after reason to fall for him. 

“Okay well this is absolutely not part of the plan, but, you could invite him to do it again tonight?” Flynn offered as a suggestion, a part of her a bit jealous, since she hadn’t gotten to have any time with Reggie this week because of midterms, but also extremely happy for Julie and Luke. They needed each other in a way their friends couldn’t supplement. 

“Let’s see how movie night goes,” she smiled at her friend as they pulled into Julie’s driveway. Ray had borrowed an old projector from work so Julie could hook up her laptop and they could watch movies in the studio, the living room just wasn’t practical for all of them to be comfortable right now. Tonight’s agenda was Kingsman II (the guys had insisted) and National Treasures I & II. 

Julie walked into the studio and flopped onto the couch, Flynn falling into the chair. “We survived midterms.” Flynn said to no one in particular, but the two heard some shuffling from the loft. They looked up in front of them and saw two sets of feet at the end of Alex’s air mattress. The girls giggled and immediately got up. “Don’t let us interrupt you. We’ll be inside!” Flynn hollered as they closed the door behind them. 

Once in the house, they stopped in their tracks by the wonderful aroma that filled their nostrils. They headed for the kitchen to find Luke and Reggie wearing matching aprons and oven mitts, covered with flour. “How’s it going?” Julie asked them. 

Reggie got the brightest smile on his face, “we’re making cookies!” He exclaimed, barely able to hide his excitement. One of his favorite memories from his childhood was baking fresh chocolate chip cookies, so that’s what he decided to do. He had a feeling the house was going to be full of baked goods a lot more often now that he could eat again. 

Flynn’s heart melted a little as she walked around the counter to stand next to Reggie, taking a clump of dough out of the bowl and popping it in her mouth. She turned to him, eyes wide before they rolled back and she moaned gratefully. Reggie looked down, his pale skin turning bright red from the noises she was making. They were absolutely sinful. “Reggie, this is the best cookie dough I’ve  _ ever _ eaten… Please tell me this isn’t a fluke and it always tastes like this?” She took another clump and watched him expectantly. 

“Oh, uh.” He stretched the back of his neck, and laughed nervously. “No it always tastes like this. My grandmother’s recipe. Family secret. But it is a hit every time. Can’t believe I remembered it correctly.” Reggie felt like he was rambling, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the way she licked the residual dough off her fingers. She was going to be the re-death of him.

“I’m going to have to keep you then,” she teased, knowing full and well that’s actually what she wanted. “The way to a woman’s heart is through chocolate chip cookies. Remember that, Reg.”

Julie and Flynn took seats at the island while the boys continued to work. They had to ‘test’ a few cookies to ‘make sure they weren’t poisonous’. Both girls continued to make happy moans and do their little food dance, causing the guys to bush and avoid eye contact each time. Luke made a mental note to bring some with him tomorrow, or stash some in Julie’s bag. She’d like to find a surprise like that while she was getting ready, he thought. 

***

About half an hour later, Alex and Willie popped into the kitchen holding hands. Willie was wearing Alex’s pink Champion sweatshirt and Alex just had on a plain white t-shirt, both wearing black sweatpants. The girls awed at them when they appeared and Julie suggested they go put on some more comfortable clothes to lounge in. The girls went upstairs to change and grab some extra pillows for the studio. 

The guys gathered some snacks, cookies, and bottles of water before poofing out. Reggie and Luke poofed back to wait for the girls. Reggie had been eager to try poofing a lifer since Luke had filled him in earlier this week. Julie eyed them, Luke giving her a smirk back and suddenly she knew what they were waiting for. “Hey Flynn… remember how I told you that Luke poofed me the other day?”

“Yeah…” She seemed kind of suspicious until she saw Reggie and Luke waiting for them.

“Want to try it?” Julie asked, already reaching for Luke’s hand. 

“Ahh nope. You also told me I could end up topless. Not worth the risk. You guys go on ahead, I’ll walk.” Flynn was not willing to risk it, since she wasn’t wearing a bra today. She also had an armful of pillows and wasn’t sure if there would be complications with that either. 

“You guys go ahead, I’ll walk with Flynn. We’ll be just a minute,” Reggie offered, even taking the pillows out of Flynn’s arms and tucking them under his own. 

Luke pulled Julie close as he had done during all their other trips, and suddenly they were out of sight. Flynn got the front door for Reggie and the two of them walked down the short path to the studio. 

“Poofing really is cool… It’s the best way to travel, Flynn. I promise. It isn’t scary at all,” he said to her once they were outside. He wasn’t trying to convince her, just let her know it was okay if she wanted to try. 

“Another time, then” she said with a small hint of something Reggie couldn’t pinpoint. It was almost flirtatious? 

“So, uh. Flynn, are you... Going with anyone to the party tomorrow night?” Reggie asked, wishing he could facepalm himself. Yeah that wasn’t weird at all. 

“Just Julie and you guys. I’m happy to sixth wheel,” she smirked back to him as they walked down the final steps. “But I know how to make sure I have a good time, date or not. Stick with me, kid, and your night will be everything you could dream of.”

Once they reached the studio, they pulled the couch open and placed Alex’s air mattress at the foot of it. Luke, Julie, Flynn, and Reggie all piled on to the pull out and got the movie started. Julie and Flynn started off leaning on each other, purposely giving each other more attention than the guys. Only about 20 minutes in, Luke already couldn’t stand the lack of connection they currently had, so he slowly inched his hand closer to Julie’s and eventually he was able to reach out to her pinky with his. She looped her finger around his and squeezed softly, like they were making a pinky promise. It wasn’t a lot, but it took the edge off for him.

By the end of the movie, the girls were very well cuddled into the guys, and they were pretty sure Alex and Willie were just making out, not paying attention at all. Julie's phone went off just as she put the next movie in, it was from Ray.

_ Daddio: how many chairs do we need to seat again? _

_ Julie: Go with ten. Carlos might get a girlfriend eventually. We need space for her, too.  _

_ Daddio: good call. Thx _

Julie put her phone back down, switching it for the remote. “Now, before we start. Is anyone hungry or need a potty break?” 

“Julie, I think I forgot something in my car. Come with me?” Flynn asked her pointedly. 

She nodded at her friend and they went to get up, much to the guys’ dismay. “I can help, Flynn,” Reggie offered. 

“No, it’s okay Julie and I can handle it, thanks,” Flynn sent him a smile before they bolted out the door.

“What’s going on?” Julie asked once they got far enough away that they couldn’t be heard through the door. 

“I don’t know. I’m just freaking out! Like… how can this just be this easy? How did three gorgeous guys fall out of the sky - literally - and end up being the best things to ever happen to us, other than each other? There’s no way this is real...” Flynn started pacing back and forth, muttering to herself.

Julie caught her shoulders and stood in front of her, forcing her to stop. “Hey. Breathe with me.” Julie started doing deep breaths, in through the nose out through the mouth. “I have absolutely no idea why this is happening or how we got so lucky. I’m just grateful that it is and that we are. Those four guys in there were strangers a couple months ago and now they’re our best friends. We just have to take that at face value for now.”

Flynn looked at Julie with a huge, relieved smile on her face. She quickly pulled her friend into a tight hug, “damn I love you, chick.” 

“I love you, too, babe,” Julie kissed the side of her head and pulled back. “Okay, what do you have laying around in your car that could excuse this absence?” Julie asked curiously. 

Flynn pulled open the back hatch and scoured through the ‘necessities’ she kept within. She pulled back, a sweatshirt in hand and shrugged. “Good enough.”

The girls returned to the studio and both were greeted with waiting arms. They crawled back into the couch bed and snuggled up to their boys. About half way through the movie Julie ordered McDonalds through UberEats, having had a conversation with the guys earlier in the week about how much they had missed McNuggets and fries. 

***

The guys loved the movies and were excited to get their next suggestion from Carlos. However, Julie made sure to warn them that the next movie night would be all musicals, to appease her and Alex’s preferences. 

They all got up to stretch and start cleaning up since it was getting kinda late. Flynn gave hugs all around and said her goodbyes. Reggie lingered a little longer than normal and offered to walk her to her car. She smiled and just nodded her head. Words were not a thing she could manage right now. 

Reggie got the door for her and closed it behind them. It wasn’t a far walk so they didn’t really say anything. Reggie felt his chances slipping and eagerly searched for something to say to her. “Do you want some company on your drive home?” Where did that come from?

Flynn was caught off guard, to say the least. “Uh… sure. I’d like that.” She watched as he moved to open her door. She never would have guessed he would have such good manners, but she appreciated them just the same. “Thank you,” she choked out as she climbed into the driver’s seat. He closed her door and then went to climb into the passenger’s seat. While he was walking around the car, Flynn closed her eyes and took a big breath. ‘Face value,’ she reminded herself of what Julie had said earlier. 

The drive to Flynn’s house was mostly quiet, except for her radio playing songs from her phone. Reggie broke the silence by clearing his throat, then “so…”

Flynn looked over at him, a soft expression on her face, “yeah?” 

He couldn't help but smile at her. Suddenly, he hears a twang on the radio and raises an eyebrow at Flynn. She goes to reach for the volume control but he beats her there. He turns it up a little bit and his eyes widen at her. “You like... country?” 

Flynn turned her attention back to the road and swallowed the lump in her throat. She had been trying to find country music that she would like, and… it was easy. Especially a lot of country music now-a-days was mostly a bastard child somewhere between Kenny Chesney and Madonna. But, she found that it moved her in a way a lot of other music didn’t.

Reggie recognized her avoidance of his comment, and instead of waiting for an answer, he nodded along to the song, tapping the beat out on his legs.

_ ‘And God made girls (For singing in your front seat) _

_ God made girls (For dancin' to their own beat) _

_ He stood back and told the boys I'm bout to rock your world _

_ And God made girls.’ _

“Well, Reg, you kind of inspired me,” she let out. “I love music, in all its glory. Rock, metal, pop, funk, it all takes me  _ somewhere _ , and I had never really given country music a chance before… But you love it enough to write a song... So, I figured it was worth finding some examples that might help Luke and Alex feel a different way about it. And I somehow ended up opening my own eyes. Even if the guys want nothing to do with ‘Home is Where My Horse Is’, Julie and I are fully prepared to make it happen.” 

Reggie was speechless, which was new for him. He searched for something, anything, intelligent to say. “Thank you, Flynn.” That was all he could muster.

“Don’t thank me. This was all you. I really didn’t like the way that the guys’ shrugged it off like it was no big deal. As your manager,” she looked over at him and winked, “I encourage you to follow whatever avenue your heart sends you down.” She started to brake and took the turn into her driveway. She put the car in park but didn’t kill the engine. “Hey, Reggie?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Thanks for riding home with me. This was nice,” she offered a smile. She desperately wanted to invite him to come inside, but she couldn’t risk Operation Fleggie.

“Yeah, any time. It was nice,” he smiled back at her before jumping out to go open her door. She finally killed the engine and let him help her out of the car. She grabbed her backpack from the backseat and turned back to him. “I’ll see you at the party?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he opened his arms and wrapped her up in them. She returned the hug and leaned her head on his shoulder. Before she was really ready, but before things got weird, she let go. She held the smile on her face while she watched him disappear. 

Tomorrow night was going to be  _ interesting. _

***

Songs featured in this chapter:

God Made Girls by Raelynn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 5! Flynn is one of my favorite characters so you know she needed some more "screen time". Some more Fleggie action and some moments with Julie. Again, I throughly appreciate all your kind words and reviews. You guys rock!


	6. without you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A double upload this week? Who would've thunk it! Happy Thanksgiving you guys. Im thankful for each of you. The best thing to come out of 2020 for me is this story. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Julie woke up Saturday morning buzzing with excitement. She had forced herself back to sleep at least three times already, rolling over to see the time on her phone reading 8:38am. She had hoped she would be sleeping in, but apparently her body had other ideas. Grumbling, her feet hit the ground, deciding she might as well start packing her bag. They were going to have a quick band practice, then Flynn was going to pick her up and they were going to spend the day getting ready. The guys had asked her only once what could possibly take so long, and all she had done was gesture to herself. They decided it wasn’t an issue worth pressing. 

Making sure to pack her outfit, a pair of leggings, PJ’s, and a sweatshirt, she then started to collect her makeup and toiletries. Once she was done packing, she got dressed for practice and looked at the clock again. 

9:05am. Today was going to take forever.

She grabbed her phone and fell back onto her bed. 

_ Julie: you awake? _

Luke had fallen asleep with his headphones in, resulting in a ringing in his ear when Julie’s message came in.

_ Luke: i am now. Good morning, Jules _

_ J: visit me? _

He quickly poofed in and jumped on the bed to lay next to her. It never ceased to amaze her how quickly he would be there whenever she asked. She propped herself up on her elbow, looking in his direction, “so, how’d you sleep?” she asked. 

“Not bad, not as good as the night before,” he said nonchalantly. A second later he remembered  _ why _ he had slept so well on Thursday night and smiled softly. “But not bad. Air mattresses suck a lot less as a ghost.” 

Julie felt a rush of hope. With any luck, they’d sleep like that again tonight. She just had to stay on course for the day. “Well that’s good. Are the guys awake yet?”

“I think Reggie was, but Alex and Willie were still sleeping. They were out pretty late last night,” he rolled over and mirrored Julie’s position. “How did you sleep?” 

“Not bad… not as good as the night before,” she said shyly, purposely mimicking him. It caused a huge smile to rip across Luke’s face and her heart fluttered. “I think we should go wake the boys up and get practice going. Flynn wants as much time as possible for prep.”

“I still don’t understand what could take you so long to get ready. You’re already so beautiful… What could you possibly need to do?” Luke honestly couldn’t see any reason for Julie to do anything other than get dressed and maybe braid her hair like she usually did before shows.

She hopped off her bed and held her hand out to him, “thank you for the compliment, but you’ll see, Patterson. I promise, the effort is worth it. Now let’s go. You do not want to keep Flynn waiting.”

Luke happily took her hand and poofed them down to the studio. Neither one of them had acknowledged the fact that Julie had been making extra excuses to poof places, both enjoying the closeness that came along with the mode of transportation. 

“Up and at ‘em boys!” Luke announced, bouncing around, clapping loudly and rousing his roomies. Julie took this opportunity to take in what Luke had been wearing - a pair of Batman pj pants and a black t-shirt. How did everything he wore look so damn good? Alex and Willie groaned from the pull out and Julie realized neither of them were wearing shirts.

“Uh, I’m just gonna step out so you guys can get dressed,” she was already walking toward the door. “Just let me know when you’re done,” she added as she closed the door behind her. 

***

Practice went well, but nothing to write home about. Julie had texted Flynn once they finished and was now waiting in the studio, bags at the door, waiting for her to show. 

“So, you guys all know the plan, right? The Uber will be here at 7 on the dot so  _ don’t _ be late,” she was worried about leaving the guys to their own devices, again, but Flynn assured her there would be nothing to worry about. “Oh and please make sure to take  _ all _ the tags off your clothes.” 

Alex walked over to where Julie was standing near the door and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, shaking her gently. “We will be fine, we have been to parties before, you know.” 

“I know that, but the world is different now and I just worry about you guys,” she wrapped her arm around his middle and squeezed him gently. “But, I know things will be fine.”

Julie heard Flynn honk so she released Alex. Luke was instantly next to the door, leaning down to grab her bags. “I’ll bring these out for you,” he offered. Reggie had been on his case to be more ‘gentlemanly’, and by the look on his friend’s face, this definitely counted. Luke rolled his eyes at Reggie and pushed the door open. 

Julie followed next to him and thanked him profusely. “No problem, Jules. I’m happy to help.” She opened the hatch and he placed her bags in the back. He reached up and closed the trunk, then wrapped his arms around Julie. “I’ll see you later, Molina,” shooting her a quick smile before he headed back to the studio.

Julie got into the car and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I’m so glad this will all be over tonight. Either we’ll be together or we won't, this in between is so so frustrating.” 

“I feel you girl. But tonight, the guys will be absolutely blown away,” Flynn had a devious look in her eye, but Julie was absolutely ready for tonight. 

***

As soon as Julie got to Flynn’s house she hopped in the shower. It wasn’t like she had been profusely sweating, but she had still been jumping and dancing around, so she wanted to freshen up. While she was in the shower, Julie made sure to shave  _ everything _ and exfoliated to make sure her skin was super smooth. She got out feeling glorious and ready to tackle the world. And the work it would take to get to tonight.

Flynn heated up some Pop Tarts for them and then got to work blowdrying Julie’s hair. They wanted her to have some nice beachy curls tonight, which meant that they needed to tame her natural curl first. The guys wanted to know what took so long? Changing the bonds in your hair so they would do what you wanted them to, that’s what.

It felt like forever, but Flynn had finally gotten Julie’s hair dry. It was poofy as hell but mostly straight. She ran some leave in conditioner through it and braided it quickly so the girls could start doing their makeup. Since this was a beach party, they didn’t really need to go full glam, but an excuse to look good didn’t come around every weekend. Each girl got to work on their own face, Julie going for a slightly more natural look than Flynn, but both of them keeping it pretty low key. Flynn was always a sucker for highlighter though, making sure the inner corners of her eyes and her cheeks really popped. 

They looked up at each other every once in a while, offering suggestions or fixing small mistakes on the other. After about an hour and a half they looked at each other and smiled. Happy with their faces, they did a healthy coat of setting spray and moved back to their hair. Julie did a half up dutch braid on Flynn’s box braids, letting the lower half of her hair hang loose. It resembled a thick, faux-hawk, and gave her a very big confidence boost. She loved the punk vibes that came along with the look. Once Flynn’s hair was done, she unbraided Julie’s hair and started curling it. She had so much hair, this was going to take some time. 

“Did Reggie say anything last night when he got back to the studio?” Flynn had been dying to ask all morning, but was slightly afraid of the answer.

“I had already gone to bed, but he was definitely in a good mood this morning. He was even up before me!” Julie wished she had more news for her friend. Both of their nerves had started kicking in, she could tell. It was just the guys though. They already knew there was more to the story than any of them had admitted to each other, and Julie couldn’t help but wonder if Reggie and Luke had ever talked about her and Flynn… 

***

Around 4pm Alex decided it was time to start getting ready. He and Willie went into the house to shower since all the good hair products were in there, leaving Luke and Reggie in the studio. “So… uh… Lou,” Reggie started as Luke dug around their clean laundry pile for towels.

“Yeah Reg?” he responded absentmindedly. 

“Can I talk to you about something?” Reggie was nervous, like  _ really _ nervous. Flynn had made it clear that she was going to this thing without a date, but also instructed him to ‘stick with her’ throughout the night and told him that she’d make tonight better than he could imagine. He hoped that meant what he thought it meant, but he definitely wasn’t sure of anything at this point. 

“Of course bro, what’s up?” Luke stopped his shuffling and sat on the arm of the couch to give Reggie his full attention.

Reggie started wringing his hands and pacing, giving Luke a clue that this was something he had really been troubled by. “Well, you see… I know you and Julie are going to be a thing eventually, don’t even try to argue, and there’s Alex and Willie. I just… I don’t want Flynn to like me by default, you know? I think she’s super pretty, and funny, and every time I get to talk to her it feels like she really wants to get to know me. She even offered to help me with Home is Where My Horse His. But I dunno man, I just don’t want to be a last resort.”

Luke chuckled slightly at his friend. Reggie had always questioned whether or not he was enough, for the band, for his friends, for his ex’s. “You are totally not giving yourself credit here, man. You’re the bassist for the best band in the world, you also play the guitar, the banjo, and the mandalyn and you can sing. You can cook, you can bake, you help clean, you have a well rounded music pallet, and you’re a total fox. Come on, you think Sunset Curve was riding on just my mug? Bobby certainly wasn’t helping.” Luke knew that all the doubt Reggie was feeling was less about Flynn and more about his past. “Not only that, Flynn has  _ options _ , dude. If she’s showing interest in you, why would it be fake?” He took the opportunity to get up and shake Reggie’s shoulders that were still slumping a bit. “Look, tonight we’re going to have a chance to be normal teenagers, at a Malibu beach party, with two of the hottest girls in the world. Let’s enjoy it and worry about the other stuff tomorrow.” 

Reggie’s face started to perk up as he considered what Luke had said. He was a catch, and if something did happen with Flynn it wouldn’t be because he’s the default, it’s because she’s choosing him. “Alright, stinky. Go get in the shower,” he joked. Damn it was so nice to talk things out with people. 

***

The boys stood by the curb at 6:55, not willing to make Flynn upset by being late, after she had personally threatened each of them if they were late. She would not have a repeat of the dance. Each of the guys definitely represented their own style; Reggie in distressed, dark wash skinny jeans, a fitted grey t-shirt, a new red flannel tied around his waist, and his signature leather jacket; Luke in black skinny jeans, his chains hanging off the side and a new studded belt, a white cut off Bowling for Soup band tee (he had become a huge fan) with a teal, white, and black flannel wrapped around his waist. Alex looked absolutely stunning in a light pink pair of bermuda shorts and a white button up shirt, the top few buttons undone and the arms rolled up, and a new black fanny pack fashioned around his waist; Willie complimented him well with black shorts and an unbuttoned purple shirt. 

Alex could barely keep his eyes and hands to himself, Willie looked absolutely delicious. He was sending prayers to any entity that would listen that tonight would be the night Willie would officially ask him to be his boyfriend. Sure they lived together, spent most of their time together, and did certain things that friends definitely didn’t do, but the title mattered to Alex, and Willie knew that. How long could he be expected to just give him the boyfriend treatment without getting what he wanted in return? 

Alex’s pondering was silenced by a black suburban pulling up to the curb. The passenger window rolled down, “Phantoms?” the driver asked. The guys nodded and started to climb in the back of the car. Reggie and Luke got into the back seat, letting Alex and Willie take the middle. The ride wasn’t very long, but even though the guys knew why they needed to show up in a car and not just  _ appear,  _ it was still annoying. But, if they were going to be normal teenagers, they needed to act like it. 

The car pulled up to the parking lot and the guys could already see a swarm of people. Alex audibly gulped. This was the first public place that he and Willie would probably be seen as a couple, other than their trip to the mall. Even there, Alex refused any obvious display of affection Willie attempted. He was nervous. Everyone had told him that things were different now, and he did trust them, but it was still a lot to shake. He suddenly felt a hand on each of his shoulders, Luke peering around the back of his seat. “You got this, dude. Just own it and no one will think twice. And plus, if anyone says anything, Reggie and I will kick their asses.”

“Ditto!” Willie chimed in. He put his hand on Alex’s thigh and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Come on, Hotdog. You look too good to hide away in this Uber all night.” He shot Alex a huge smile and winked. 

Alex took a deep breath and opened the door. They thanked the Uber driver as they climbed out and suddenly they realized that they had no clue where to meet Julie and Flynn. As if they hadn’t talked about this. They’d covered every other detail up to this point.

They were starting to give up on the parking lot and head into the crowd when Reggie saw Flynn’s car pulling up. She parked and Reggie directed the guys to her spot. They were approaching the back of the car while both girls got out and closed the doors behind them. When they started walking toward the guys, Reggie and Luke both froze.

Somehow, Flynn and Julie were completely in sync. Everything was done at the exact same time; the doors closing, each step they took, the flinging of the hair over the shoulder, the  _ very _ sultry smiles that grew on their faces. This was somehow right out of a movie, but happening right in front of them. With Luke and Reggie still dumbfounded, Alex and Willie met the girls and embraced them. 

Reggie couldn’t breathe, but was pretty sure his jaw was touching the pavement. He had never seen anything more stunning… the red with her skin tone, and they way her clothes fit her… he wasn’t sure that should be legal. She released her grip on Willie and walked the few steps to meet Reggie. “Hey.” The look in her eye saying  _ something _ and Reggie couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

Luke on the other hand, was able to at least put on a half decent facade. He knew she wasn’t going to end up in the outfit she had shown Ray. He  _ may _ have seen a second bag in her room after their shopping trip, but all he saw in it was the shorts since they were on top. There was no way he could have imagined that Julie would have put  _ this _ outfit together, and there was no way he could have known how good she would look in it. He opened his arms for her and she closed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘Has she always smelled this good?’ he thought to himself. “Jules you look fantastic,” he said in a hushed tone so only she could hear. Julie pulled back slightly, still keeping herself close. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and he had to bite his tongue to avoid whimpering. ‘Get it together man’ he berated himself. 

“Well, I told you it would be worth it,” she said as she winked at him. She grabbed the arms of the flannel from between them and tugged a bit. “The nineties called, they want their trend back,” she shot a small smirk his way. 

He shot her a mock-offended look, then let go of her and leaned on Reggie’s shoulder. “The nineties missed out on all this fineness. They can’t have anything back.”

Julie simply rolled her eyes, turned around to ignore him and grabbed for Alex’s hand. He let her grasp it and she smiled at him. “Ready?” Julie asked gently. She knew this was a big deal for Alex, since had never shown the public this side of him. 

He surveyed the people already in attendance again and this time noticed a couple of girls holding hands, standing a bit close for friends. He reminded himself that things were different now, especially in California, and that he didn’t need to be afraid to show his true colors. “Yeah, Julie,” he grabbed Willie’s hand and let go of hers, no longer needing the additional strength, “I am.” 

The rest of the group all gave a rather loud round of excitement before they turned and started toward the beach. Alex and Willie led the way, the rest of them following close behind. Reggie positioned himself closer to Flynn and cleared his throat, “don’t forget, you promised me a night I could only have dreamed of.”

‘Oh you have no idea, ghost boy,’ Flynn thought to herself. “I always keep my promises, Reg. Nothing to worry about.” She slipped her hand into his and giggled at the look of surprise on his face. 

They walked through what seemed to be the designated ‘party area’ which consisted of a large fire pit, a couple folding tables with coolers surrounding all but one of them, and a growing collection of people. The area was littered with tiki torches and there were multiple smaller fire pits set up, some with chairs around them, some with just people gathered near them.

Bringing up the rear as they walked, Luke and Julie were quiet. He had put his arm around her waist, opting for that over her shoulders so as to not ruin her hair. He may not know the mechanics of everything, but he could definitely see why it was worth the  _ hours _ it took for her to get ready. The end result was well beyond anything he could have dreamed. It also didn’t hurt that her outfit had a generous gap between the bottom of her shirt and the top of her shorts, and Luke was taking full advantage of the fact that it fit his hand perfectly. The party hadn’t even begun yet and he was already deeming the night a success. 

She knew Luke wouldn’t be able to resist touching her with so much of her skin exposed, and he had fallen right into it. Flynn broke her thoughts by directing Alex toward a section of beach that they had set up as their own about an hour ago. There were chairs positioned in a semicircle around a smaller fire pit, facing out toward the ocean; a small table, cooler, and a bag with blankets and towels between two of them. Julie and Flynn sat down in the seats next to the table and Julie started rifling through the bag.

She pulled out a smaller bag and the guys all found seats for themselves. Part of the girls’ prepwork today had been rolling, they had rolled a dozen blunts for the night, not exactly sure they’d need them all, but also not sure who amongst them would partake. They had another stash in Flynn’s car if needed. Julie took one out, stuck it in her mouth and went to light the end of it, when Luke finally realized what she was doing. He leaned closer, looking around to see if anyone had seen her. “Julie what the hell? You can’t do that here.” 

She smiled and lit the end, taking a deep inhale while Luke’s eyes just got wider and wider. “Recreational marijuana is legal in California, Luke. I told you, so many things have changed. Half the people here are either stoned or will be soon.” She exhaled and offered it to him. He still looked slightly… bewildered? 

“Julie… I.” Luke wasn’t sure what he should do.

“Obviously you don’t have to,” Julie would never pressure him into anything he didn’t want to do. “We don’t even know if it will do anything fo…”

Willie interrupted her, “oh, it does. Trust me.” He chuckled slightly, reaching over Luke to take the blunt from Julie. He brought to his lips and took a long drag, “oh shit Julie this is smooth,” he commented before turning and offering it to Alex. 

He looked at Luke, then back to Willie and shrugged. “Why not? Normal teenagers tonight, right?” He took a small inhale and started to cough. He handed it back to Willie, who passed it back to Julie. Alex was still choking slightly so Willie rubbed his back a bit. 

“Luke, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but the invite is open,” she told him as she passed it to Flynn. 

The girls, Reggie, and Willie continued to puff on it, Alex tapping out after two hits, until the roach was burnt down to basically nothing. Julie tucked everything back into her smaller bag then back into the blanket bag. The DJ had finally gotten set up and they started hearing music playing from the speakers. People were congregating around the large fire pit a few dozen yards away, already starting to dance. Flynn jumped up and clapped her hands. “Alright. Time to party!”

She held her hand out to Julie who accepted it so she could get on her feet. The girls started walking away and the guys rushed to catch up to them. Once they got to the dance area, Julie and Flynn immediately started dancing, Alex and Willie joining them instinctually. Obviously, two girls so into music would know how to move their bodies, but it still blew Reggie’s mind how hypnotizing the human body could be when moving in the right ways. Flynn’s shirt had the perfect amount of loose fabric to accentuate her movements to the song he had never heard before. He couldn’t help but watch her toned stomach move side to side. He found himself dumbstruck again, not quite sure what he should do, or could do, other than watch her. 

As if able to read his mind, she moved her attention from Julie to him. She smiled at him as she wound her hips and shot him a playful wink. Still finding him frozen in place, she leaned in and spoke into his ear over the music, “come on, Reg. Dance with me.” 

Like a switch flipped in his brain, he suddenly was grooving along with the beat. He hadn’t really ever ‘danced’ with someone more than just swaying back and forth, but tonight definitely found ways to move him. He looked around and noticed Julied had moved away, giving Luke some pointers, since he was very out of his element without his guitar strapped to him. Reggie was suddenly alone with Flynn in a mass of strangers. The song they were dancing to faded into the next one, and Reggie watched Flynn’s moves adjust to the new sounds. It was very poppy, completely not something that Reggie would ever listen to. But, since Flynn was singing to him, he couldn’t ignore the words.

_ “One old fashioned, served on ice. Key lime pie babe, It’s just right. Got that red dress on, it’s real tight. You ain’t gotta say it. Cause I know what you like, _ ” Flynn was getting really into her dance, she turned around and shook her ass, Reggie’s eyes glued to her. He couldn’t help but notice the symmetry in the words to their current situation - she showed up in the perfect outfit to make him go crazy. He kept thinking about how good she looked in his favorite color, and considered how nice his leather jacket might look over her shirt.

‘ _ Hand on her butt it’s a handful, crop top shorts and sandals, yeah. Easy to please, we don’t argue, and I can see the sand from the bar view. Sunset, I’m goin’ till sunrise, I hate when we gotta end good times.’ _

Flynn was getting closer to him with each chorus she sang, twisting and moving her body in ways that kept Reggie under her spell. When the last word hit and Flynn stopped her movements, her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, her face extremely close to his. They locked eyes and Flynn held her breath. Reggie slowly leaned down to her, and Flynn went on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. She had waited long enough, she decided. It was now or never. 

Flynn distantly heard a yell of encouragement from Julie, but couldn’t give it a full thought. She was  _ kissing Reggie _ . And he was  _ good _ . Her body molded into his, and his hands found their way to the small of her back, gently pulling her closer. His hands on her skin definitely had Flynn feeling a type of way, softly nibbling on Reggie’s lip to communicate her approval as he pressed harder into her skin. ‘I’m so fucking glad he can do that now,’ she thought to herself.

The next song that came on was one that Luke recognized from Julie’s playlist, and was more up his aisle for music. He had been dancing with Alex, Willie, and Julie since Flynn had stolen Reggie away. ‘Good for him’, Luke thought. Julie shied away a little as she heard the change of song, but this was exactly what she was hoping for the guys to learn tonight; that they were more than ‘good girls’- that they had another side of them entirely.

_ “She said to me: Forget what you thought, Cause good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught, So just turn around and forget what you saw, Cause good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught," _ Julie sang along with every song, but this one seemed a bit more personal to the guys she was dancing with. Her eyebrows went up when Luke started singing along with her, but it would be weird if he hadn’t stumbled upon at least some of the songs that were going to play tonight. This one was just a little more bizarre since it was a few years old. They finished the song together and the weirdness of it faded from her mind. 

After a few more songs, the gang extracted themselves from the crowd. Julie and Flynn were buzzing with energy, but they all needed a breather. Julie led them over to a smaller group of people with a table in the middle that seemed to be supplying drinks. Flynn and Julie each reached for a cup of Jungle Juice and turned away from the table, again fighting with the dumbfounded looks coming from most of the guys. 

“Guys. Chill,” Willie stood in again, “Tonight is for doing normal teenage things, you don’t have anything to worry about.” 

Luke was the first one to move this time, grabbing his own cup and gesturing toward the girls with it, “good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught, right?”

Julie and Flynn met his cup for a ‘cheers’, then Willie, Reggie, and finally Alex joined in. After the initial shock, the guys were proving to be accepting of Julie and Flynn’s ‘extracurricular’ activities. They found their way back to their slice of the beach and Flynn lit another blunt, giving it to Reggie, then passing it to Julie. She took a hit and offered it to Luke. He took it but passed it to Willie. 

They chatted about nothing in particular while they all drank and passed the blunt around. Reggie was the first one up this time. He shrugged off his jacket and placed it on the back of his chair, leaving him in just his fitted t-shirt. His arms weren’t as muscular as Luke’s, but they definitely still had some definition, and Flynn was definitely noticing. He offered his hand to her and asked if she would dance with him. Flynn looked at Julie, her eyebrows raised, with a huge smile on her face. “I’d love to,” she said as she placed her hand in his. Julie smiled to herself as she watched Alex and Willie take off, too. 

She pulled out another blunt and lit it, settling back into her seat. Luke watched her close her eyes and start rocking her head back and forth, humming along with ‘What a Man Gotta Do’ by the Jonas Brothers as it played over the speakers. She looked so at peace. How had Luke not noticed the weight she was bearing until she was relieved of it?

Luke cleared his throat before talking, so as not to jump her, but he needed to get his thoughts out. “Jules?” 

She rolled her head toward him and opened her eyes. She waited for a moment but he didn’t say anything. “Yeah, Luke?” She wanted to make sure he knew she was mentally there for him to talk to, her head was back out of the clouds. 

He turned his head to meet her gaze and lost all strength he had just been mustering for himself. Panicked, he scratched his head and grasped at something to say. “Uh… thanks for bringing us out here tonight. It’s nice to get to be kinda normal for a night.” 

“You’re welcome, Luke. I’m glad you’re here,” she said honestly. “It makes things a little easier when I get to do them with you.” She took another hit and went to put her blunt out when Luke stopped her.

“I, uh… I think I’d like to hit that, if that’s okay?”

Julie nodded and passed it to him. He looked at it uncomfortably. She scooched her chair closer to him “have you ever done this before?” she asked him softly.

Luke chuckled softly and looked at her, “that obvious, huh?” He paused a moment but felt the need to continue, “after Kurt Cobain died, my mom’s biggest fear was me dying from drugs because of the ‘rock and roll lifestyle’. Not weed, but like heroin and cocaine and stuff. So, I stayed away from all of it. I couldn’t give up music, but I could do that for her. Funny how it was a bad hot dog that did me in.” He chuckled dryly. 

Julie put her hand on his arm and took the blunt from him softly. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I don’t think any less of you or anything.” 

“Nah, I want to. Normal teenager tonight right?” He offered his hand to take it. She lit it again for him and gave it back. She watched him take a hit. He started coughing almost immediately and he returned it to her so he didn’t drop it. Julie softly rubbed his back through a few good coughing fits, before he sat up and took a deep breath. She grabbed a water out of the cooler and offered it to him. He took a drink and then laughed to himself. “Alright, well... That was sufficiently embarrassing.” 

Julie giggled softly and nodded. “Here, why don’t we try it this way.” She adjusted in her chair a bit, getting closer to him, “all you have to do is inhale,” she instructed. He nodded, looking at her curiously. She took a long drag, then pulled his face to meet hers between their seats. She got her face so close to Luke’s he thought their lips were going to meet. Julie slowly started blowing at him, and Luke parted his lips to inhale. She pulled away after a moment and blew the rest of the smoke into the air. She watched him hold the breath for a moment, then slowly exhaled. 

“Wow that was…” ‘hot, sexy, erotic’ he thought of a million ways to finish his sentence, “way better,” he recovered, but definitely would need to think about that moment a bit more later.

“It’s called a shotgun. It takes the harshness out for the other person. Flynn did that for me the first few times we smoked. Helps you get used to it a bit, I think,” she explained, then took another drag.

Luke had to force the image of Julie and Flynn that close out of his brain, he was simultaneously jealous and also very interested. Now and here were definitely not the right conditions to think about that. “Think we could do that again?” He asked.

Julie brought the blunt to her lips again and pulled smoke into her mouth. She leaned back in and Luke met her of his own will this time. She blew the air at him but didn’t pull away. She watched his eyes dance on her face, before meeting hers. She watched the small smile pull across his face before he turned his head to blow the smoke out. She used that moment to allow her eyes to drift down to notice his arms, beautifully exposed by his sleeveless t-shirt. 

She had just started to bite her lip when he abruptly stood up and offered her his hand, “come on, let’s dance Jules.” 

She quickly put everything back away and took his hand, not letting go as they found their way to the crowded dance area again. 

***

While Luke and Julie were busy, Flynn and Reggie had been dancing along to every song. Most of them weren’t anything Reggie would willingly listen to again, but they weren’t awful. Watching Flynn move to them made the whole experience a lot better. A few songs in, Reggie heard a twangy guitar chord and perked his ear up a little bit. As he listened, his eyes grew bigger and bigger, before Flynn grabbed him and shot him the best version of her smile he had ever seen. She continued to dance, the song again mirroring their current state.

_ ‘I love standing here watching you breakin' it down, baby down, baby down, You keep pulling me in when you spinnin' around, baby 'round, baby 'round, I can see you'll probably be keepin' me up all night, yeah but that's alright, 'Cause girl you got me like dayum baby, dayum baby, dayum, Yeah you got me like dayum baby, dayum baby, dayum’ _

The fact that Flynn didn’t sing along to this song made him realize that she didn’t know it. Instead he had to listen to the actual artist, but it still hit him hard that this song was made for him and Flynn. She continued dancing for him, making sure he had a full view of her form. As it came to an end, Flynn got on her tiptoes again and leaned into his ear. The music was still soft, so this time she whispered, “surprise. I may have bribed the DJ to pick some country music for his set.” 

Reggie pulled away from her and suddenly couldn’t remember why he had ever felt like he wasn’t enough. With one little act, Flynn had made him feel worthy and valued. “You are absolutely amazing.” He couldn’t help himself, he pulled her in close again, grateful as hell that he could finally kiss her, and that she  _ wanted _ him to kiss her. 

Julie and Luke met up with the couple on the dance floor about a song and a half later clearly interrupting something. “Hey guys!” Reggie was definitely caught, his thumbs in the waistband of Flynn’s shorts, with her currently kissing his neck as she moved her hips to the song. He let go with one hand as she moved to his side, the other staying firmly pressed to her hip. Flynn burrowed her head into Reggie’s shoulder and giggled. 

Flynn and Julie both picked up on what the next song playing was and got super excited. They stepped away from the guys as they started singing and doing a clearly choreographed dance.

_ “I know what you came here to see, If you're a freak, then ya coming home with me, And I know what you came here to do, Now bust it open let me see you get loose, It's going down for real”. _

As they got further into the song, more people started noticing their dance and started clearing room for them. Julie and Flynn continued, completely lost in their own little world. Their dance had quite a bit of hip work to keep up with the beat and Luke was again blown away by how well Julie could move her body. She finally registered the group of people currently surrounding them. ‘Double Trouble may not be dead after all,’ she thought to herself.

Julie continued to dance while Flynn rapped the next verse. “ _ It's going down further than femurs, Girls get wetter than Katrina, Yeah my girl you never seen her, 'Cause my tints by limousines, My touch is the Midas, We da plus your man the minus, My team blowing on that slam.” _

Now was Julie’s turn,  _ “Make you cough-cough that's Bronchitis, Put your hands up, It's a stick up, no more makeup, Get that ass on the floor, Ladies put your lipstick up, Double entendre, double entendre, While you're hating I get money, Then I double on tonkas”.  _

The girls came back together for the chorus and the rest of the song. ‘ _ Flip it, drop it, shake it, pop it, Flip it, drop it, shake it, pop it, Flip it, drop it, shake it, pop it,’ _ yes, they were absolutely twerking, and Julie knew they were damn good at it.  _ ‘It’s going down for real. It’s going down for real. It's going down for real. It's going down for real’  _

They stuck their final move, and the song ended. The DJ paused his setlist as the crowd erupted into applause. Flynn took Julie’s hand and they bowed. Was it ridiculous? Yes. Had they been perfecting that routine since they were 14? Also yes. It was nice to perform in front of other people, even if it hadn’t been completely intentional. 

Willie and Alex soon found the group, “Flynn, Julie! You guys were incredible!” Alex gave them both a big hug. The girls noticed a few more marks on his neck than had been there earlier.

“Details, tomorrow.” Flynn had whispered during their hug. 

Alex squeezed them harder, loving that he had people he could talk to about this stuff. “Promise.” 

The DJ restarted the music, and their audience dispersed after a few more words of encouragement. Julie saw Nick among the people attempting to come her way and very pointedly turned away from him, turning her attention back to Luke. She did not need the drama that would come with him tonight. 

“Can  _ we _ dance now?” Luke asked, his hand sliding down her arm to lace his fingers with hers. 

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. She was surprised that he pulled her close, even though ‘What’s Poppin’ by Jack Harlow wasn’t exactly a song you would typically slow dance to. Julie looked around at the couples grinding, the girls dancing in groups, guys rocking side to side with cups in their hands on the edge of the mass of bodies. She looked back at Luke and wrapped her arms around his neck. This spoke volumes to her. He led her on a slow circle around their space, his hands finding their way to the small of her back again. She felt his fingers splay across any bit of skin that he could find and pull her closer to him. She was happy for the closeness, her head suddenly not able to support itself so she laid it on his chest. 

They stayed that way through a few more songs, just enjoying each other's presence. Julie smiled as Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus came on. That song had come out right after her mom passed, and it had helped her a lot throughout the last year. She couldn’t help but sing it softly, for only Luke’s ears, as he continued to spin her.

By the end of the song, Julie actually felt a new surge of confidence. She  _ was _ her mother’s daughter. She had all the willpower, strength, and independence she would ever need just from knowing that. 

The next song that played started out with a few piano chords. Julie smiled into him again, another song that hit her in just the right way. She burrowed closer to his neck as she sang this song to him,  _ for him. _

_ “I’ll admit I feel alone at times, I’ve been there and I’ve crossed the line, I pray I can breathe again over time, time. Without you. I know that it’s wrong but I don’t care what’s right. I’ll take the blame and you can take the time. I’m wishin’ that you could see us through my eyes, it’s all about you. _

_ I know that I shouldn’t care, but I can’t breathe without you. And if the truth isn’t fair, then I wanna lie here with you, I wanna cry without you, I can’t get high without you.”  _

When the song came to an end, Luke decided that they really should talk. He nudged Julie and led her toward the ocean.

***

Alex and Willie had been drifting around in the dancing crowd, occasionally going back to the drink table to fill their cups. It had been so long since either of them had been able to be this carefree. Willie had gotten ahold of Alex’s hand about 45 minutes ago and hadn’t released it since. He wanted Alex to be proud of him, but he also wanted Alex to be proud of himself. So far, they hadn’t gotten so much as a sideways glance from anyone.

Alex had told Willie everything he could get out about what happened with his parents. How after he came out to them, they just seemed to give up on him. Like they didn’t even need to bother attempting to parent him anymore, he had already become their greatest disappointment. Had they been together back then, Willie would have had some choice words with the vile person that Alex had to call a father. Willie totally understood every hesitation, every time he curled in on himself, but he just wanted to make sure that Alex knew that he didn’t ever have to listen to those hateful things again. That if someone did say anything to him, that person was part of the minority now, and would also get his ass handed to him at the hand of Alex’s very capable... friend. He mentally kicked himself.

Obviously he knew that Alex wanted to be asked officially to be his boyfriend. He had planned on doing it tonight, he just was still scared that something would go wrong. ‘You can’t get hurt if there are no strings attached’ had always been Willie’s philosophy, but that was the problem: Alex was more than strings, he was the chain anchoring him to the world. Willie had never met someone who was so genuinely good and so seemingly perfect for him. Alex was cautious when Willie was reckless. He overthought when Willie was impulsive. Not only did he balance Willie out, he also truly cared for him and his safety. Willie never had that, and he actively  _ wanted _ that in his afterlife… for eternity. How do you say that out loud to someone you didn’t even know a couple months ago?

Willie tugged Alex back toward their little campsite and grabbed a blanket out of the bag. He spread it out near the chairs but out of the way, in case anyone else came back, and laid down. Alex sat down and laid back, placing his head on Willie’s chest. 

Willie’s hand immediately went to combing through Alex’s hair, his other hand laced back together with the boys. He glanced down, Alex already looking his way. “Hey,” was all he seemed to be able to get out. 

“Hi,” he responded.

Willie rubbed the back of Alex’s hand with his thumb and took a deep breath. “Alex, can I ask how all this is making you feel?”

He paused a moment, taking a moment to reflect before he realized what his feelings on  _ everything _ were. He looked up to the sky, not sure he’d be able to get through what he needed to say if not. “I feel excited, Willie.” And he did. He was hopeful for their relationship, for Julie and the Phantoms, for everything coming their way that they’ve worked for. “Ever since I realized that I was different, my future had been terrifying. How would my parents feel, my friends? Then I came out and the band was getting more well known… Then, we came back… It’s so funny. Now that I’m dead I don’t have to worry. But, it’s more than that. My life now is so much better than it ever could have been in the 90’s.” He leaned on his arm and hovered over Willie, “ever since I met you my life has just made so much more sense.”

Willie leaned up and placed a kiss to Alex’s lips. “Alex… be my boyfriend?” He murmured into his lips, wanting the answer, but not bad enough to break this kiss, he decided he would have to multitask. 

Alex moved his body, still keeping their lips pressed together, and ended up straddling Willie’s hips. He broke their kiss long enough to nod and whisper, “yeah” before replacing his lips back to his  _ boyfriend’s _ . Oh, he couldn’t wait to share the news with the band! His first boyfriend! 

After a few minutes, Alex decided to get off of Willie and laid down next to him instead. Their kissing left both boys breathless. He took Willie’s hand and kissed each of his knuckles, looking up to his face and catching his eyes. “I’m so glad you ran me over,” he said sincerely. 

“Me too, Hotdog,” Willie responded softly, “me, too.”

***

Songs featured in this chapter:

I Know What You Like (feat. Sydney) by DACAV

Good Girls by 5 Seconds of Summer

Dayum, Baby (feat. Sarah Buxton) by Florida Georgia Line

GDFR (feat. Sage The Gemini and Lookas) by Flo Rida

Without You by Tana Mongeau


	7. What Does This Mean for Tonight

_ “I know that I shouldn’t care, but I can’t breathe without you. And if the truth isn’t fair, then I wanna lie here with you, I wanna cry without you, I can’t get high without you.”  _

_ When the song came to an end, Luke decided that they really should talk. He nudged Julie and led her toward the ocean. _

They walked a bit, talking but not saying much. Luke couldn’t take the shallow small talk anymore, he felt like he was going to implode. He grabbed Julie's hand, gently pulling her to a stop. “Jules…” 

She turned to him and met his eyes. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t absolutely terrified. A lot had happened tonight, he’d learned a lot about her. It was probably a lot for him to process, that he hadn’t known any of these things about who she was. Was she different in his eyes now? 

Luke cut through her spiraling thoughts simply by grasping her cheek in his hand. It didn’t seem possible that just a week ago they weren’t able to touch each other. How did either of them survive without this?

“I think we should talk abou…” It was Julie’s turn to cut him off. She pressed a finger to his lips, both silencing and surprising him.

“Can we… not? Not tonight?” She took a step closer to him and gently put her hands on his arms, delicately stroking them. “Can we just  _ be _ right now?” She closed the space between their bodies, looking up at him through her eyelashes. “We can talk tomorrow, I promise. I just…”

Luke feels something incredibly strong take over his being and he pulls her face to him. He hesitates momentarily, giving her room to opt out if she didn’t want this, before Julie meets him the rest of the way. 

Julie had obviously kissed other guys, and a handful of girls, but this was… Way past any level of experience she had reached. Julie had never felt so cherished by a guy before. Luke wrapped his arms around her, but made sure she was comfortable and had room to maneuver if needed. 

His hands were like fire against the skin on her hips. God she wished he’d engulf her in flames in that moment. Julie was the one that broke the kiss, but she continued to keep her face close to his, afraid he may mistake her need to breathe for rejection. “Luke… I…” 

“I love you, Julie,” he softly let out before he lost his nerve. “I think I’ve loved you for a long time… I mean, I knew I liked you,” he laughs to himself, pressing his forehead to hers as he spoke, remembering the guys’ reaction to his ‘epiphany’, “and I knew how beautiful and talented and passionate you were. 

“But, I also knew I never was supposed to know you, so I tried to ignore it and let you live your life as you should have been able to.” He paused, grimacing slightly at the thought of who else she could be here with. He pushed the thought away, lowering his voice to barely a whisper, “I can’t believe I got so lucky… I guess recently I’ve just started realizing that I might not have forever here, but whatever I’ve got, I want to spend it with you. It’s more than the music, Julies. The afterlife isn’t worth living at all if I’m not with you.” He finally focuses back on her face and sees her starting to respond. He kisses her lips softly, then quickly adds “you don’t have to say anything, I know you need time and you need tonight. But I needed you to know.”

Julie simply pulls him in for another kiss, having said all that needs to be said for the moment. For now, she needs to show this boy who thought he was unlovable that he can be loved; to show him that he has a soft place to land if he falls; to allow him to touch her and ground him to the earth. She feels him grab her hips and pull her close to him. This time it is Luke that breaks the kiss. He burrows his head into her shoulder, causing her kimono to fall around her arms, and he presses his lips to the skin there. 

His kisses on her skin are ethereal. She has never felt something so divine; a small noise of appreciation unwillingly passes her lips. Her eyes softly flutter shut as she revels in his ministrations. In barely a whisper, she breathes out “I love you, too, Luke.”

The sound Luke produced in that moment was nothing short of erotic. Somewhere between a growl and a moan, it shot a wave through Julie like she had never felt. Every nerve in her body was on high alert. He leaned up to capture her lips again, Julie eagerly giving back everything he was giving. She swiped her tongue across his lower lip and he immediately allowed her entrance. Their tongues moved in perfect unison, dancing together as if they had been partners for years. Julie pulled her tongue away and softly bit Luke’s lower lip, eliciting another delicious sound from him. 

He reluctantly took his hands from her hips and tangled them in her hair, breaking their kiss again. He was panting, trying to regulate his breathing while also placing quick kisses to her nose, forehead, and cheeks. “So what does this mean for tonight?” He asked cautiously, wrapping a curl around his finger. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he was really enjoying himself. 

“Tonight,” she giggled as his lips found their way back to her neck, “we take things as they come. We do the things we want and don’t do things we don’t.” Her hands were getting antsy, finally finding themselves under his shirt, trailing her fingertips across his defined muscles. “And I want to kiss you again,” she said matter of factly. 

Luke flashed her a brilliant smile and nodded, “I want that too.” He lowered his lips back to hers as she memorized the feeling of his skin. It was unreal, having him against her. His tongue battled with hers, his skin under her touch, the way his hands found the perfect place to caress her no matter where they were. She carefully considered what he said earlier, and Luke was right, they weren’t supposed to have ever met. She slipped her thumbs into his front belt loops and pulled him to her at the horrific thought. Luke happily obliged, pressing himself against her. 

A few moments later, they broke apart again, both panting but holding the other close. Luke closed his eyes tightly and kissed her forehead again. “Should we go back to the party?” He definitely didn’t sound like the idea was for him, but more like he was offering it just for her.

“Why don’t we go back to the chairs? We can light a fire,” Julie suggested, realizing how late it had gotten, and just how chilly she was.

Luke immediately took the flannel off his waist and wrapped it around her. The moment was intoxicating for Julie, and not just because she had a slight buzz going. Not only was she now wrapped in him, but it said something to everyone else without them having to say anything. Julie hadn’t missed the lingering looks at him from multiple girls at the party, and the disgruntled looks they’d shot Julie when she got near him. Julie didn’t like to think of herself as a jealous person, but protective of what’s hers? That she would claim proudly.

He looked at her in his flannel and had to kiss her again. He could get used to that, given the option. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and nudged them in the right direction. 

***

As they approached, they heard someone talking over the DJ’s speakers, so they joined the mass of bodies around the large fire. Julie groaned as she recognized the voice, it was Carrie. The class president always gives a speech and gives a send off for the senior class. “... so seniors, make sure these last months are full of memories. These moments will be with you forever. Congratulations Class of 2020!” With that, she took a torch offered to her by someone from the football team and brought it to the largest fire pit. The pile went up in flames and once again the crowd broke into a round of applause. 

Luke took Julie’s hand and led her back to the drink table, each drinking a cup quickly and then getting a refill to sip on. Luke laced his fingers with Julie’s as they walked back to their ‘camp’. Luke noticed that Alex and Willie were laying on a blanket, cuddled up and looking at the stars. He couldn’t help but feel pure joy for his friend. Alex had been through so much, he absolutely deserved to be happy in his afterlife. 

They made it back to their seats and Julie took a book of matches and another blunt out of her ‘drug bag’, as Flynn affectionately called it. She lit the match, then the blunt, and then threw the match into the fire. Luke felt like he was in a movie, watching her. The way she moved, the way everything seemed to work for her. She held the blunt in her lips as she stood up, shrugging off his flannel, then her kimono. Luke was simultaneously concerned as to why she was taking his shirt off, and also completely captivated by her. He really hoped he never stopped noticing how magnificent she was. He felt a big rush of relief when she pulled his flannel back on and tied the bottom of it closed. How the hell is it possible for someone to look so angelic in jean shorts and a flannel? 

She stood in front of him and held her hand out. He took it, not sure where they were going, but was content when she took them only a few steps from the chairs and wound herself into him again. She took a long hit of her blunt and closed the space between them, pressing her lips to Luke’s as she breathed into him. The headrush he got from her was spectacular. He moaned softly into her mouth as he bit her lip. All too soon he was pulling away to exhale. “Julie Molina you are something else,” he spoke like he was sending out a prayer, and she couldn’t help but blush. 

She allowed him to lead her in a small circular dance, like they had done earlier. The sounds around them faded out and all Julie knew was Luke. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Alex and Willie had joined them near the fire. Alex was happily nestled into Willie’s shoulder. She decided then that they all had a lot to talk about, and would need to take some ‘girls plus Alex’ time soon. 

The couples danced by the fire until Reggie and Flynn hopped over to them, energy oozing off of them. “Do you guys wanna go swimming?!” Reggie practically hollered. Clearly they had gotten a little too close to the speakers and were hitting the jungle juice a little too hard. 

Flynn grabbed Julie’s hand and practically begged her, “please please Jules! We’re seniors. Our chances to be young and dumb are dwindling before you go off and get famous!” 

Julie looked at her and shrugged. “I’ll go in the water but I’m not getting my hair wet!”

“Duh! I spent too much time on that!” Flynn shimmied off her shirt and shorts, leaving her in a red bandeau bikini top and matching bottoms. Reggie looked at Luke with a smile that could have broken his face, and quickly pulled off his shirt and jeans, almost falling over in his haste. He threw his clothes at the chair his jacket was hanging on and ran after Flynn in just his boxers. Flynn couldn’t help her laugh after seeing him in his grey boxers with red hearts, they suited him perfectly. 

Luke shook his head at Reggie, but a split second later he felt like a giant hypocrite, a very similar look grace his face as Julie wiggled out of her shorts to expose a pair of white bikini bottoms. She untied his flannel and shrugged it off. She shot him a look that could only be deciphered as a challenge and he chuckled. “Sorry Jules, I’m uh… unable to participate this time.” 

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, “and why is that?” 

He leaned close to her ear, purposely making his words soft yet gruff, “unless public nudity has also been legalized in California.” She hadn’t even given it a thought to tell the guys to bring suits, since the average guy was always prepared to go for a swim… Julie shook her head, realizing she should have known that Luke wouldn’t be the average guy.

“Well, I guess I’ll know for next time. Too bad though,” Julie shot him a wink and started walking toward the water. Alex and Willie ended up following her, their clothes discarded. Luke grabbed a chair and a towel and settled himself on the shore. 

***

There were quite a few other people in the water, but overall no one bothered them. The six of them enjoyed themselves, Luke even ended up putting his feet in the water at one point. Alex, Reggie, Willie, and Flynn were playing a game of Marco Polo, but Julie bowed out and walked back to shore. 

She approached Luke and he offered her the towel he brought with him. Julie gladly accepted his offering and wrapped the towel around her hips. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. She swung her feet over one of the arms of his chair and settled into him. 

“You know your lap is going to get all wet, right?” Julie didn’t want to get blamed for this later.

He placed a series of kisses on her arm before responding. “I’m not too worried about it.” 

“Suit yourself,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. She watched as their friends enjoyed themselves in the water. She couldn’t help but wrack her brain for the last time Flynn had looked so happy. The guys’ reach was spreading. Not only had they made her world better, but they were touching the lives of the people Julie loved the most. Her dad had welcomed them with open arms, they were incredible with Carlos, and Reggie made Flynn smile in a way she wasn’t sure she’d ever see again. How had three strangers become so important to her world in such a short amount of time. “Hey Luke…?”

“Yeah Julie?” He took his head off of hers to look down at her, giving her all of his attention.

“That first night we met… when you were reminding me how selfish I was acting,” she started.

“That is absolutely not what I was doing,” Luke interrupted her, defending himself.

“Oh hush. All I could think about was my problems. But you made me see the bigger picture. Anyway... That night, you apologized for coming into my life. And I just need you to know how thankful I am that you did. You three have done so much good in my life in just a few months… and it’s more than the music, it’s everything. Just… I needed you to know that.” 

He looked at her intently, the smile that was reserved only for her starting to grace his gorgeous features. “I’d like to kiss you again, if that’s okay?” Luke responded.

She happily leaned forward, meeting his lips eagerly, and cupping his face with her hands. Julie soon broke their kiss and moved her attention elsewhere. She was leaving soft kisses along his jaw, up to his earlobe, which she nibbled softly before following the muscles down his neck. As she worked his skin, Luke’s hands were pressed to her like he thought she’d float away if he loosened his grip. She softly nipped at the spot where his shoulder met his neck, and his breath hitched. “Jules… I’m not sure y-you should be doing that.” 

“Doing what?” She asked as she grazed her teeth over the spot. She felt his body tremble and then tense. ‘Ooohh…’ Julie heard the voice in her head put the cause and effect together. She kissed him there softly and started her parade of kisses again. 

Luke exhaled as she moved on, he could only control his body so much, and with her on his lap, it was extremely risky for her to be doing things that made him feel like  _ that _ . The way that felt was… well it left him speechless if that tells you anything. 

It wasn’t that Luke didn’t find Julie sexy, because he absolutely, most definitely did, but he never wanted to make her uncomfortable. This was night one of however many he was allowed, he didn’t want her to think he only wanted one thing because that was the farthest thing from his mind. He wanted Julie. Whatever else came with that was just additional miracles. 

When Julie had kissed every available inch of his neck, she placed a gentle peck on his lips. “What do you want now, Luke?” 

“I want to get you into some warmer clothes, because you’re starting to shiver,” Luke said, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Julie internally snickered to herself. Her shivering was only partly because the temperature was dropping. The rest of it was her body trembling due his hands moving against her skin in ways she could never have dreamed. He was already tuned into what her body needed; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like once they got to know each other more. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone (except maybe Flynn) but just his hands on her legs and back were turning her on like never before.

Not willing to admit her half truth, she crawled out of his lap and offered her hand to help him up. He took it and launched himself at her, kissing her lips dramatically, laughing the entire time. 

He was such a goofball, but it tugged at Julie’s heartstrings. He could always make her smile, and he really did care for her. He even brought her a towel so she wouldn’t have to walk back to their stuff cold and wet. That definitely got him some brownie points. She hollered over her shoulder to Flynn that they were running to the car, to which she got a thumbs up. Flynn’s face was a little busy with Reggie’s at the moment. She rolled her eyes playfully but took Luke’s empty hand and walked back up the beach. 

***

They dropped Luke’s chair back in its place and grabbed Flynn’s car keys and Julie’s clothes. They walked through the masses and made it to the car. Julie unlocked it and climbed into the back seat. She gave Luke a quick kiss before pushing him away and closing the door. 

When she emerged again, she was wearing a pair of high-waisted black leggings, a black lace bralette, and Luke’s flannel unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up. She had pulled her hair up into a ponytail, her curls now touching her shoulders instead of cascading down her back. 

Luke was once again blown away by the talent in this girl - she just changed in the back of a car and still managed to come out stunning. Maybe Reggie was right and she was a witch. Could anything else explain her magic? She took Luke’s hand as she walked past him, pulling him along with her. Being behind her let Luke enjoy the view. He knew from the past few hours that Julie felt nice, but seeing her in those tight pants was something else. As soon as they were out of the road he tugged on her hand and leaned against a car. She stepped between his legs and looked up at him. “Yes?” 

“I just wanted to admire you for a minute.” So he did, he took all of her in. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? And kind. And passionate, and impressive as hell.” His hands tracing the edge of his flannel on her shoulder.

“No one else worth mentioning,” she replied. Who cared if anyone else had said the words? Luke was the first to make her believe them. 

He shot her that special smile and brought her hand up for him to kiss. “Come on, I’m sure Flynn is noticing we’re still gone.” She led him back toward their firepit. He grabbed a blanket out of her bag and wrapped her up in it. Yes, she had more clothes on, but he couldn’t tell how cold it was, so he just wanted to make sure that she was comfortable. He also wanted to make sure there was another layer between her and his still damp lap, should she choose to sit in it again.

He tended a bit to the fire, adding another couple pieces of wood, before he sat down in the chair Flynn had previously occupied. Julie looked at him with an eyebrow cocked and he leaned back while he responded “the most exclusive seat in the house is available, Miss Molina. If you’d like it.” 

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his corny joke, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She had just settled back in with him when Reggie stormed in and broke their comfortable silence, grabbing a couple towels before running back to the water. “That boy doesn’t have a ‘low’ gear,” Luke joked. “He is always going 100 miles an hour.” 

“Well, I’m sure he saw that you brought me a towel and felt like a jerk. He holds himself to such a high standard,” Julie completely understood, he had talked to her about how he always had to be perfect for his family, so it makes sense that those feelings of inadequacy followed him around. “But you know what, it’s nice to see someone trying for Flynn. Typically she’s the one who puts all the effort into a relationship.” 

“Reg is a good guy. He’s weird, and he doesn’t always say the right thing, but he has a heart of gold.” Luke watched down the beach as he offered Flynn a towel, wrapping it around her and kissing her nose. “And he’s really into her. I’ve never seen him like this… Reggie was kind of a playboy back in school. He had a lot of flings and went on a lot of dates but never the same person for too long.”

“Flynn does have a way of bringing out the best in people. She doesn’t show a lot of people her affection and when she does it means a lot… By the way, if your boy hurts her, I’ll find a way to make it hurt him.” Julie knew she didn’t need to threaten Reggie, but she felt as though it was her responsibility as Flynn’s best friend. 

Luke laughed, having gotten that talk a few times in the past, “I wouldn’t dare get in your way, Molina.” He held her close to him, placing soft kisses to any skin he could reach. 

They watched the fire burn, sitting in comfortable silence once again when the four from the beach made their way back. “Do you guys wanna get going?” Flynn offered. 

“Going where?” Alex asked. “It’s not that late…” 

Flynn put her hand up to stop him. “Afterparty, at my mom’s place. She’s working overnight again.”

Reggie visibly perked up “will your dog be there?” 

Flynn and Julie laughed, of course Reggie would want to meet Maple. “Of course.”

“I’m in,” Reggie and Alex said at the same time. 

“Lead the way, Hotdog,” Willie said, taking his hand.

“Well, you guys need to dry off a bit before we can call an Uber,” Flynn said, dropping her towel in an empty chair and stepping closer to the fire. 

“Man it is so inconvenient to not be able to just poof places…” Reggie grumbled, joining her. 

Alex joined them, apparently the other towel Reggie had taken had gone to him. He threw it in the same chair that Flynn had, while Willie went to pick up the blanket they had laid on earlier. He shook the sand off of it and refolded it, placing it next to the bag before joining the line up near the warmth of the fire. 

A few minutes later, Flynn deemed the guys dry enough and asked Julie to order the Uber. With it on its way, she pulled her camera up to take a selfie with Luke. He knew she alway took a few pictures to pick from the best of them, so he started out looking at the camera, then moved to kiss her cheek. Julie’s heart was absolutely bursting as she captured the memories. She flipped the camera around to get a shot of Flynn jumping on Reggie’s back and Alex and Willie leaning on each other next to the fire. This would definitely be something she would want to look back on.

They all put enough clothes on to be presentable, gathered the rest of their stuff and headed toward the parking lot. The girls stopped at Flynn’s car to grab their bags and they waited. When the car showed up, they piled in; Luke, Willie, and Alex climbed into the back while Flynn, Julie put their stuff in the trunk. Reggie sat in the middle row and waited for the girls to join him.

***

The drive to Flynn’s mom’s house was a little farther than the drive to the beach, but it still didn’t take too long. They crawled out and thanked the driver profusely. The guys took everything out of the trunk and let the girls lead them into the house. They were all greeted by the fluff ball the guys could only assume was Maple. Flynn ushered her out the back door while the guys dropped the bags and followed her. 

“You live here?” Reggie asked, completely baffled as they walked through the house and out onto the back deck. This was nothing like her dad’s house that he had seen earlier in the week. While her dad’s was a more quintessential suburban home, her mom’s was a modern beach house. It was very open, nicely decorated, and of course had a beautiful view of the ocean. And Reggie definitely didn’t miss the gorgeous kitchen they had walked by.

“My mom has a doctorate in nurse practitioning or something. She makes a lot of money, but also works a lot. Which is why when I was growing up, most of the time I lived with my dad. But, when she works doubles overnight, I come and watch Maple.” She leaned against the railing and looked out into the night. “Now that I’m older I get to choose where I am most of the time, but it still sucks living between two places. I’ve considered moving here full time, but I don’t want my dad to feel like I abandoned him.” 

Reggie wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “Well, Miss Manager, soon you’ll be on tour with Julie and the Phantoms and our sick tour bus will be your home.” 

Flynn laughed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. She’d never really given much thought as to what her future as part of the team would be, since she figured they’d want to replace her as their manager once they started getting offers. She had zero experience, even though she definitely had the drive to make them successful. But, names mattered in this business and she knew that. “You won't replace me?” she asked softly, not sure if she was only talking about her position as the bands manager. 

She felt his body jerk as he pulled away to look her in the eyes. “Absolutely not.”

Flynn’s heart was fluttering as she pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. Their moment was interrupted by Alex’s gasp. “You have a hot tub?! It’s huge!” Flynn laughed as she turned around, already finding him stripping off his clothes again. 

Julie and Luke joined the group on the deck, clearly coming from the kitchen, if the two six packs of Mike’s in Luke’s hands were any indication. Julie noticed Alex climbing in and asked “oh we’re hot tubbing?” 

“I guess so. Alex got really excited,” Flynn shrugged as she started to peel her clothes off again. 

Julie looked to Luke who smirked at her. “Well, I could poof back to the studio and grab some shorts.” 

“Probably a good idea,” she shot back. “I’m gonna go change, too”. Luke set the beer on the table and poofed away. Julie went to Flynn’s room, since she had a couple extra bathing suits here just in case. She grabbed a lilac two piece, with high waisted bottoms and a cute ruffle detail on the top. She also grabbed a hair clip and put her hair up, still not willing to ruin the beautiful curls Flynn had created. By the time she got out to the deck, Luke was already back and lowering himself into the hot tub. She couldn’t help but ogle his shirtless chest. She didn’t get to see it as often as his arms, and she definitely appreciated the view. 

“Julie my dear, can you get your drug bag so we can smoke some smoke?” Flynn asked, shooting her puppy dog eyes “pleeeeease?”

She turned to go back into the house, once again giving Luke an enjoyable view of her backside. He was an ass man and always had been, but nothing he’d ever seen could compare to Julie. He still wasn’t sure how he had become so lucky after he had died, but he wasn’t going to question fate, just simply enjoy the perks.

She returned quickly and pulled the patio table near Flynn’s corner of the hot tub. Flynn dug into the bag while Julie climbed in and situated herself between Luke and Alex. Reggie reached behind Flynn to grab a few Mike’s to pass around. The six of them fell into a rhythm of easy conversation, planning for the future of JatP (including assuring Flynn that she would never be replaced as their manager, unless she chose to step down), and just overall shooting the shit. They smoked, they drank, and they enjoyed each other’s company. 

After a while they decided to get out and go hang out in the living room. Julie and Flynn retreated to Flynn’s room briefly to change. When the girls returned, Flynn was wearing a large, off the shoulder shirt and a pair of basketball shorts; Julie was in a long flowy tank top with matching purple shorts, Luke’s flannel looking a little out of place, but Julie had decided she would wear it as long as she could. They made their way back to the livingroom to find the guys in PJs too, they must have gone back to the studio and changed. Reggie and Luke were both shirtless, Reggie wearing a pair of Mandalorian pajama pants (he had caught up on the entire Star Wars franchise with Carlos over the last month or so) and Luke was wearing Nightmare Before Christmas pants. 

Julie remembered how Alex had felt left out when they went through their hauls from their ‘excruciating’ trip to the mall. Until they had presented him with two pairs of orange Dragon Ball Z pants, one for him and one for Willie. Apparently it had been one of Alex’s favorite shows growing up, so the guys thought he would appreciate the gift. He had… so much so that he teared up a little. It was the sweetest thing Julie had ever seen between the three of them. Willie had promptly cut his pair off at the knees, claiming that pants were ‘just not really his thing’. Julie did have to admit that he looked pretty adorable curled up next to Alex, both in black shirts and mostly matching pants. 

“So, boys, what’s next?” Flynn said as she sat on the loveseat next to Reggie. Julie went into the kitchen to get another drink, feeling her buzz hitting a good level for her. 

“Let’s play a game!” Willie shot out, he was leaning against Alex on the couch, Alex running his fingers through his hair. Maple had taken residence in Willie’s lap, and Willie was absentmindedly petting her fluffy ears.

“We could play ‘never have I ever’. It’s pretty easy we just need drinks!” She hollered the last part out so Julie would hear her from the kitchen. 

“Aye, aye, Captain!” She shouted from the other room, bringing in another round of drinks for her friends. She passed them around then looked for a place to sit. Maple, Alex and Willie were taking up the entire sofa, Reggie and Flynn were on the love seat, so Julie decided to once again situate herself on Luke’s lap as he lounged in the armchair. 

Luke definitely didn’t mind her decision at all, adjusting so she had as much room as possible, and he wrapped his arm behind her back, resting his hand on her thigh. His fingertips just touched the edge of her shorts, so he curled the fabric up and softly rubbed her skin.

“Do you guys all know how to play?” Julie asked. 

Alex nodded, the other guys mumbled their confirmations. Reggie popped the top off his drink and said, “I’ll start. Never have I ever cheated on a test.” 

Flynn, Willie, and Luke all drank. Flynn went next, “never have I ever broken a bone.”

The four guys all drank. Alex looked around the room and smiled. “Never have I ever kissed a girl.”

Everyone else in the room drank. Reggie and Luke looked at each other, then at the girls, who were giggling.

Reggie spoke carefully, “never have I ever kissed Julie,” his jaw dropping when Flynn took a sip of her drink. “Dude!” 

Flynn gently pushed his arm, “calm down. That’s a conversation for some other time. Luke! You’re up.” 

“Uh… well. Never have I ever been arrested?” 

Willie was the only one that drank that time. He smiled, “never have I ever called a partner the wrong name.”

Julie and Reggie both drank, once again Luke looked at Julie with a fervent curiosity. He hadn’t specified that it was an intimate partner, but Julie had definitely called her _dance_ _partner_ the wrong name just a couple weeks ago. The room was quiet for a moment. “Julie, it's your turn,” he said, extremely interested in what she came up with. 

“Never have I ever had a one night stand,” she called out. 

Reggie, Willie, and Flynn all took a sip of their drinks.

Flynn cleared her throat, “never have I ever flashed someone”. Everyone looked around, apparently no one willing to admit it if they had. Flynn shrugged as she finished her drink, getting up to grab the next round. 

Alex looked at his friends and smirked, “never have I ever been sexually attracted to a cartoon character.”

“Oh that’s cold, Alexander,” Luke said as he and Reggie both drank. It made him feel a bit better that Julie drank too, but that didn’t completely make up for the betrayal. Alex was the only one that knew he and Reggie both had a thing for certain Disney princesses back in the day; Reggie had a thing for Ariel and Luke for Jasmine. “Never have I ever faked sick to get out of a date.” 

Alex and Willie both drank, Flynn did too as she walked back into the room and dispersed drinks to her friends. Julie started laughing, looking at Flynn, “Donnie?” 

Flynn shuddered and nodded her head as she sat back down next to Reggie. “Donnie. Oh, God... I swear I have trauma from that night.” Reggie wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. 

Julie giggled again, “such a trooper.” 

Willie stood up, his arms behind him. His movement earned a grumbling noise from Maple, who left the couch and sauntered upstairs, presumably to Flynn’s mom’s room. Alex’s eyes were glued to Willie’s toned stomach as his shirt rode up a bit while he stretched his arms up. 

“Do you guys wanna play good old fashioned truth or dare?” Flynn offered up. 

“Oh my God can we!” Alex got excited. He really never got to play in high school. 

“Please just know what you’re getting into playing with Flynn, she can be ruthless,” Julie responded. She snuck a peak at the clock and wasn’t surprised to see 2:45am displayed. “Alex, you can start.”

“Willie, truth or dare.” 

“Hmm…” he contemplated picking dare, but wanted to see what Alex would ask him. “Truth.”

“What's the most useless piece of knowledge you know?”

Willie smiled as he sat back down, “Cap'n Crunch's full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch. Flynn, truth or dare.” 

“Dare baby.”

“I dare you to let Reggie put lipstick on you.” 

She got up and ran up to her bedroom, bringing back a couple options for Reggie to choose from. Of course he picked the bright red. She sat facing him and he turned to her as well. Julie watched the process intently, and to his credit, he didn’t do a bad job. Not that it mattered since as soon as he was done, Flynn pressed a kiss to his lips, effectively transferring a bunch of the product to him. “Jules, truth or dare.”

“Dare,” she said simply. Flynn never took it easy when it came to truth or dare. She’d ask the juiciest questions and pick the weirdest dares. Julie had learned early into their teens that you gotta play hard to win big.

“I dare you to give us a little strip tease.” Flynn sat back and crossed her arms, clearly proud of herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys.... there's only one chapter left! I hope you love this as much as I do. Thank you all a million times for your support. See you for the final chapter!


	8. More Of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... Well... Happy New Year? *flinches*  
> I have been in such a bad mental place since.... well since the beginning of November, but it was pretty rough the last month. I stopped reading, I stopped writing (thankfully I finished this before things got too bad, like I said it was done before I started posting).   
> But I love you guys. I appreciate each review and kudos, and am absolutely blown away by the amount of hits this story has had.   
> Thank you all for everything. I hope you enjoy the last chapter of Good Girls Are Bad Girls.

_ “Dare,” she said simply. Flynn never took it easy when it came to truth or dare. She’d ask the juiciest questions and pick the weirdest dares.  _

_ “I dare you to give us a little strip tease.” Flynn sat back and crossed her arms, clearly proud of herself.  _

Julie rolled her eyes, took out her phone to pick a song. Show Me How You Burlesque started through the speakers. Flynn’s face broke into a huge smile at the opening lines. She should have known. Julie downed the rest of her drink and stood up, walking over to Flynn. She bent over the arm of the love seat and started snapping to the beat. She began to dance in front of Flynn as soon as the song got going.

Julie dropped to her knees and spread Flynn’s legs, snaking her way up between them,  _ “We say, He-eh-eh-hey, Here come the ladies ’bout to give a little show, _ ” she turned around and sat on Flynn’s lap, grinding on her,  _ “he-eh-eh-hey, Here go the boys you gotta show a little more, more, more”.  _ She leapt forward, back to her feet in front of Flynn.

_ “Hit it up, get it up, won’t let you rest, Hit it up, get it up, this is not a test, Hit it up, get it up, gotta give me your best, So get your ass up, show me how you burlesque. _ ” She was thankful that she had buttoned up the flannel most of the way, using it as a prop for her routine, undoing the buttons slowly. She was surprisingly comfortable dancing like this in front of the group, but she did feel just a little ridiculous. 

_ “A little bit of naughty, it's a little bit nice, She’s a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex, spice, Shimmy, shimmy, strut, strut, Give a little what, what, Up on the tables we’ll be dancing all night _ ” Julie finally hit the end of the buttons and pulled the shirt halfway down her arms, shimmying her chest toward her friend.

“ _ Here come the ladies ‘bout to give a little show _ .” Flynn couldn’t help the call she felt and got up, dancing with Julie to one of their favorite songs. They easily slid into their regular choreography for the chorus.

They both leaned over an arm of the couch, giving Reggie and Luke the better views in the house.  _ “Okay girls, let’s show ‘em how it’s done. It ain't over ‘till we say, and we’ve only just begun, _ ” they sang in unison, then Julie took over for Christina’s power notes. 

The girls were definitely enjoying themselves, and Reggie and Luke were happy to watch. Alex even swears he saw them attempt to fistbump and miss, too focused on the girls in front of them. The girls came together, hands all over each other for the final chorus. Julie’s fingers played with the hem of Flynn’s shirt, Flynn running her hands down her friend’s arms, removing the flannel from her entirely. Julie knew she saw a pout on Luke’s face when it hit the floor, but she paid him no mind. ‘Like he didn’t want to see it on the floor anyway’. 

_ “So get your ass up show me how you Burlesque!”  _ Both girls slid into the laps of their partners, pulling them each into a kiss. 

“Okay, it’s completely unfair that you guys have so many choreographed dances,” Alex announced. He was happy to be ‘one of the guys’ most of the time, but he  _ loved _ dancing and definitely needed to get in on that action.

“Mmhmm,” Reggie confirmed, pulling away from Flynn’s lips to press kisses to her neck, “completely unfair.” Flynn giggled, knowing that Reggie’s comments stemmed from a vastly different place than Alex’s, and probably had something to do with the stiffness she was feeling against her legs. 

“Well, Lex, why don’t we plan a night for just the three of us to hang out, work on some dances, listen to some music,” Julie offered, knowing that they all needed time together anyway to go over everything that had been going on.

“Ugh yes that sounds so nice,” he said around a huge yawn. 

“Alright, Hotdog. I think we better get you to bed. You guys good if we head back to the studio?” Willie wrapped an arm around Alex, allowing his head to fall on Willie’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, you guys go ahead. Have a good rest of your night,” Luke responded, answering the question Willie wasn’t asking. ‘Yes,you guys can have the studio to yourselves.’ With Luke’s blessing, the two poofed away. 

“Do you guys wanna keep playing?” Flynn offered, still draped across Reggie’s lap. 

“After that? That’s your best friend... What would you do to us?” Luke asked. 

Flynn simply smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder, “guess you’d just have to find out.” 

Reggie looked at her like she was the most beautiful, wicked person in the world. The guys turned to look at Julie. Her hands shot in the air. “this is up to you guys. I cannot guarantee your safety.”

“Well, what are our… other options?” Luke asked carefully.

“Hmm, well we could just hang out and listen to some music... We could go to bed ourselves.” Julie offered.

Flynn cut her off, “bed does sound like a lovely idea.” She faked a big yawn and stretched her arms out. “Reg, would you like to join me?” she asked as she gave him her patented puppy dog look.

“How could I say no. Lead the way,” he would have poofed them instead, but since he had no idea where he was going or what it looked like, he figured this would be easier. 

Flynn climbed off Reggie and leaned over the arm of the chair, pressing a kiss to Julie’s forehead, “goodnight dear.” Flynn took Reggie’s hand to lead him upstairs as he said his goodnight.

Luke looked around the room, not sure at all what he should do or what was safe. This was completely uncharted territory and he was at a loss. 

Julie stood up and turned to him, speaking softly. “The guest room is down the hall. Would you…” offered her hand to Luke, “stay with me tonight?”

He smiled brightly up at her and took her hand, “There is nowhere I’d rather be.” He followed her down the small hallway and into a room. It wasn’t very well furnished; simply a bed in the corner, with a nightstand and a chair. He closed the door behind him and was happy to accept Julie’s kiss as she pressed him against the door. 

Luke happily let her hands roam over him like she was afraid of what it might mean to miss a spot. Her kiss wasn’t as urgent as her hands though, it was soft and tender. Luke gently pulled the scrunchie out of Julie’s hair and happily took hold of her curls in his hands. Julie softly raked the tips of her nails down the V at his hips. 

He broke from her lips suddenly and leaned his head against hers. He just needed a minute. Being so enveloped in  _ her _ , he was i sensory overload. Every nerve in his body was on fire, he felt everything so vividly. “Julie…” he moaned her name as she repeated her previous movements. 

“Yes?” she asked delicately. She was kissing her way up his neck, sights set on the spot that had driven him wild earlier. Instead, she suddenly felt him leaning down, lifting her at her thighs, and the next thing she knew she was pressed against the wall. Julie felt another shiver shoot down her spine as she focused herself. She wrapped her legs and arms around him as he leaned in to catch her lips. 

Luke gripped tightly to her thighs as he reveled in the way her body was reacting to him. He never wanted it to stop. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and gently grazed one of his canine’s over it. Her legs clenched around him, silently begging him to do that again. Julie tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him back softly to break their kiss. Immediately, Luke’s lips were on her collarbone, peppering kisses and nibbles across her skin. 

Her eyes rolled back and it was her turn to whimper his name, “Luke.” 

His lips found their way to her neck, “hmm?” being all he could get out as he softly started suckling on her. 

“Mmmmm,” she momentarily forgot how to form words, none of the blood rushing through her body going to her brain. 

A moment later he released her skin, softly running his tongue over the spot before returning to her lips. Luke had always thought that a girl with hickeys was hot, but the thought of Julie being marked like that by him was beyond sensuous. Clearly, she agreed. 

He kissed his way back up her skin to her earlobe. He softly nibbled on it before asking her, “what do you want Julie?” 

Her nails raked across the skin on his back as she breathed her answer. “More of you.”

He bit down harder on her lobe as he poofed them from the wall to the bed. Julie’s breath hitched as they landed softly, the momentary feeling of falling then the support of Luke’s arms around her a bit of an adrenaline rush. Luke softly laid her down, supporting himself with his arm as he hovered over her, pressing delicate kisses to her shoulder. 

She pulled on his arm softly and brought him back to kissing her lips. She knew that her life had changed; after everything that had happened there was no point in trying to deny it. Luke mattered, and Luke was supposed to be here for her; there was no other option. Somehow, this is what was always meant to be what happened. 

When their lips were swollen, and Luke was having an extremely hard time battling the erection that wanted so badly to form, he broke from her lips softly, breathing deeply as he tried to calm himself. Julie took the opportunity to slip her hand into the waistband of his pants, and Luke thought he was going to break. He softly whimpered her name as her fingertips scratched the skin on his thigh. 

“Jules…” She stopped and looked up at him, hoping she wasn’t misreading the situation. He kissed her face repeatedly, doing his best to remove the look of doubt in her eyes. “I have never been so turned on before…” he spoke in that slow, cautious voice he used when he really needed to get his words right. “... but I think what we’re doing is enough for right now, until we actually talk about things.” 

She softly placed her hands on either side of his face and nodded her head. She had no words for him, instead she pressed a kiss to his lips. Julie still couldn’t wrap her head around Luke Patterson, but she couldn’t be more grateful for everything about him. 

She broke their kiss, and pushed him onto his back. She left small pecks down his neck and onto the top of his chest, where she latched on and sucked. He couldn’t help but move his hands back to her hair and tug slightly. Who sent this woman into his life, and how could he properly thank them? 

“I figured we should match,” she winked at him after admiring her work on his skin. She laid down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. She took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together. He brought their hands up and kissed her knuckles. Now that she was laying down, it was harder to ignore how tired she was. 

She let out a little yawn and Luke let their hands settle back on his stomach. He figured he would ask before she got too comfortable, “do you have anything you need to do before bed, or do you want to get under the blankets or anything?” 

Julie considered it, and she told Luke she’d be right back. She closed the door behind her, quickly went to grab his flannel, forgotten on the livingroom floor, then ran to the bathroom to change and quickly get ready for bed. 

A couple minutes later, Julie was crawling back in next to Luke, wearing just his flannel and her shorts from earlier. She cuddled close to him, and felt the security of his arms as he wrapped her back up in them. “Good night, Julianna.” 

She pressed herself a little closer to him, and felt him press a soft kiss to her head. “Good night, Lucas,” she sighed as she settled in and drifted to sleep.

***

The morning came too soon, and Julie heard Maple coming down the stairs, followed by some sluggish feet. She heard the back door open as she slipped out of Luke’s grasp and made her way into the kitchen. She was shocked to see it was Reggie that was up. He seemed to be cleaning up the bottles from the night before, “Julie, do you know where I should put all this stuff?” 

She pointed him toward the returnables bin as she made her way toward the coffee pot. Mindlessly, she got it brewing and then focused her eyes on the clock. 8:15am. Yep, no wonder she felt like she’d been hit by a train, getting less than four hours of sleep will do that to you. She dug into the cooler for a couple bottles of Gatorade. She gave one to Reggie along with a bottle of Advil, “bring these up to Flynn, put them on her night stand if she isn’t awake yet.” He poofed away and was back within a few seconds. 

Julie cracked into her own bottle and took a few big gulps, washing down the pills she had grabbed. She put it on the counter and went to get her coffee cup ready. “How are you feeling? Do ghosts get hangovers?” 

Reggie was in the fridge, trying to figure out something he could make for breakfast. He passed Julie the creamer and shrugged, closing the door uninspired. “I feel fine, but I definitely didn’t drink as much as I used to, so who knows.” He pointed up to the second floor, “she wasn’t that bad by the time we went to sleep. How’s Luke?” 

“I’d say he’s feeling fine,” Luke appeared behind the island, jumping Julie and Reggie. He shot them a huge smile, leaning his elbows on the counter. “I’ve never felt this good the morning after a party. Being dead definitely has its perks.” 

“Me too! Damn, all the benefits of alcohol and  _ none _ of the consequences.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Luke, who shook his head at him, but Julie couldn’t read between his words. “That could be dangerous. With great power comes great responsibility,” Reggie acknowledged. 

Julie looked at him a little strangely, then nodded as she turned around to pour her coffee. Flynn’s mom bought Julie’s favorite coffee creamer, so she always had at least a couple cups on her rougher mornings. She took a sip and it felt like a hug. She closed her eyes and moaned softly into her cup before she went back for another sip. She leaned on the counter across from Luke, keeping her coffee at sipping level. 

“So, Denny’s or McDonalds for breakfast?” Julie asked. Those were always the girls’ go to hangover places and she knew Flynn’s order by heart for each of them.

“Ooh, tough one. I do like a good Egg McMuffin, but also I want pancakes.” Reggie stroked his chin, really weighing the benefits between the two. 

“What if I told you that MickyD’s has a breakfast sandwich where pancakes are the bread?” Julie cocked her eyebrow at him, his expression absolutely priceless. 

“That… that, I want that,” Reggie was almost drooling. Julie couldn’t help but laugh at him. She grabbed her phone and opened up the UberEats app, ordering her, Flynn, and Reggie’s food. 

“Here, order whatever you want.” Julie gave Luke the phone and he started scrolling through. 

They placed the order and when it was about five minutes away, Julie sent Reggie to wake Flynn up. Of course she didn’t mention how… aggressive, Flynn could be in the morning. Julie was impressed to only see a slight scowl on her friend’s face when she made it to the bottom of the stairs. Julie offered her a freshly made cup of coffee and kissed her temple. “Good morning gorgeous.” 

“You’re an angel,” Flynn murmured into her cup as she took her first sip. As she swallowed, she did her happy food dance and moaned slightly at her cup. 

Just as the girls finished their first coffee, the doorbell rang. Reggie went to answer the door while Flynn poured each of them another mug full. Reggie and Luke sorted out the food. Everyone watched as Reggie tried his McGriddle. His eyes started to water as he spoke with a full mouth, “this is the most wonderful thing I have ever eaten. It’s beautiful.” 

Luke had ordered one, too, so he unwrapped it, taking a bite and nodding his approval. He swallowed and pointed at the sandwich. “Yup, that’s good.” 

***

They had set a band practice for 2pm, but decided they had the rest of the week to make it up. Flynn and Reggie had gone back to bed around 11, Julie and Luke had gone back to the house. No one had seen or heard from Alex or Willie, but they weren’t anywhere to be found. Julie and Luke had been lying on the couch watching TV, when Julie got up and just left. Luke was kinda bewildered but figured she’d be right back.

Julie closed the door behind her as she stepped outside. She clung to the railing and took deep, cleansing breaths. They hadn’t mentioned anything about last night all morning and other than Luke’s lingering looks while she wore his flannel around, he hadn’t really shown interest in her… She was starting to talk herself into a very dangerous downward spiral; what if he realized he didn’t want anything further, what if last night had been a mistake to him, what if he didn’t like the things he had discovered about her? She had needed to get out of there but she had also kinda hoped he’d follow her. Not that she expected him to, but still, a girl could hope.... 

She took another few breaths to calm herself, and decided she needed to play. She walked down to the studio and knocked. No response, which was good. She went in and sat at the piano. She ran her fingers over the keys and looked at the ceiling, “ugh mom. What do I do? What if I was wrong about last night? I really do love him, and he said he loved me too.” Her voice cracked. In barely a whisper, she asked the empty room, “why does this feel so scary?” She ran her fingers across the keys and absent mindedly played the melody for ‘Wake Up’. She hummed along until she got to the first chorus, letting her mom’s words guide her now. 

_ “It's not what you lost, It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain, Wake up your dream and make it true, Look out, look inside of you, It's not what you lost,” _ . She sang softly, slowly, deliberately letting the words take root within her. It isn’t that she could lose Luke, it’s that she could gain more than she could have ever hoped. Last night she realized that he was supposed to be here with her. The morning didn’t change that, nothing could. “No regrets.” She said aloud as she picked up her phone. 

Inside, Luke’s phone binged softly. He pulled it out of his pocket to see the most terrifying message he’d ever gotten.

_ Julie: Can you meet me in the studio in like… 10 minutes? _

He took a deep breath, had a minor melt down, then responded to her message.

_ Luke: yeah, sure. _

***

Luke poofed his way down to the studio 9 minutes later. He shoved his hands in his pockets and took a few more deep breaths. He hadn’t missed the way she stood out of his reach this morning, and hadn’t said anything to him… What if last night was it? What if she changed her mind…? ‘Only one way to find out,’ he resolved. With one more deep breath, he went through the door. 

“Hey you” he heard her before he saw her. She was in the alcove with all the plants, walking toward the piano. She wore a pair of black leggings and the white shirt she had bought as a decoy, and had added the flannel from last night over her shoulders. The light was hitting the windows in the perfect way. She looked so gorgeous. Julie took a seat on the piano bench, leaving space for him to sit next to her.

“Hey yourself,” he responded. He couldn’t take his eyes off her strutting across the room, in his clothes… ‘That’s gotta be good, right?’ He never wanted her to wear anything else. 

“Sit with me,” Julie said at the piano, but obviously the instruction was for Luke. Julie closed her eyes and let her fingers wander, the sound getting stronger as Julie swayed to the music. She softly started playing a melody that Luke recognized distantly. It was the song from last weekend, the one she must have written with Flynn.

She finishes the last few notes and finally opens her eyes. She turns her head to look at Luke and tucks her hair behind her ear. 

“Julie, I… Wow. You wrote that?” Luke was clearly dumbfounded.

“Being high helped, and so did Flynn, but yeah. I did,” she responded sheepishly

Luke gasped at her, but made it extremely apparent that he was joking, “Julie Molina is a good girl, she wouldn’t dare smoke the devil’s lettuce.” Maybe he should try to collaborate with the other half of Double Trouble some time if hits like that came out of it, damn.

“Forget what you thought, good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught,” she sang to him and shot him another wink. 

“You’ll be the death of me, Jules,” Luke smiled at her and had to momentarily break his concentration on her beautiful eyes, the song from her playlist weaseling its way into his brain. He turned to face the piano and coughed while scratching the back of his head.

Julie giggled at him again before putting her hand on his bare arm. She softly spoke to his shoulder, “there are lyrics…” she still didn’t know what she needed to say to Luke, but she knew that her song was a big part of it.

Luke turned to look at her, he looked nervous but also extremely curious. The song she had played him had been passionate, a melody like that meant something… “Let’s hear it.” 

“I need your help. Sing with me?” She looked up at him through her eyelashes and caught the smile he was trying to swallow. Julie pulled the lyrics up on her phone and handed it to him. Julie took his silence as him waiting on her, and she started playing the opening pieces again. She nodded to him for his cue. 

She mouthed the words along with him until she took his place. 

_ “Life can be so mean, but when he goes, I know he doesn’t leave…”  _

They come in together, Julie maintaining as much eye contact as possible. She knew Luke wouldn’t need a lot of time with the lyrics, but it was like he didn’t need them at all… like he already knew her song by heart.

_ “You set me free” “You and me together, it’s more than chemistry” “Love me as I am, I hold your music, inside my hand”  _ They sing their pieces to each other, Julie struggling to keep her hands on the keys. Luke gives her a look she has only seen once; like if he breathed wrong she would disappear. After they finished the last chorus, Julie couldn’t take it anymore, she let her hands leave the keys and she turned to him, cupping his face in her hands.  _ “We say we're friends.” “We play pretend.” “You're more to me.” “We create.” _

They stay like that on the piano bench for a few minutes, just holding each other. Luke breaks the silence, “hey Jules… uh. I got a question for ya.”

She sits back a bit, “sure Luke. What do you wanna know?” 

“Would you, uh…” Luke cleared his throat and took a breath. “Do you… Will you be my girlfriend?” 

Julie smiled down at her legs. She was quiet for a moment before taking Luke’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, “I would love that.” She looked up to meet his eyes, hoping that he saw the honesty in her words. She stood up and went to sit in the middle of the couch, wiggling her finger at him, calling him to her.

He poofed and reappeared on the coffee table, his guitar in hand. He smiled at her and started to strum. Yeah he had planned for it to be done as the band, but he also couldn’t shake the feeling that now was the right time. “So… I wrote you a song, too. I can play it for you again with the guys, but… I think now is as good a time as any for you to hear it.” He smiled that smile that was just for her as he started nodding along to the rhythm. He hadn’t played it on his acoustic before, but it so far it sounded just as good. 

He sang to her, his heart on the line. Julie simply sat and listened, in complete awe of the rawness of the song and the amount of passion Luke sang it with.  _ “I just wanna be where you are tonight, I run in the dark looking for some light. And how will we know if we just don't try, we won't ever know.” _ Julie blushed, another wave of emotions hitting her as she listened to him.

He was so thankful that Julie had given him the chance, and he got the point across of just how much he truly cared about her. She was one of the best things in his life, and he wanted nothing more than to watch her succeed in life. 

He closed the song out, looking up at her. She patted the seat next to her on the couch and he swiftly traded places, leaving his guitar on the table. Julie tucked her feet up beneath her and leaned into him. He swiveled his body slightly so she was able to lay down a bit better. As he moved to her unspoken needs, she realized just how wonderful it was to feel of him next to her. He leaned his head against the top of hers and fed his fingers under the hem of his flannel, wanting to get some skin on skin contact. His hand wasn’t an inferno like it had been last night, but it was a sensation she knew she would never get anywhere else. 

“That was beautiful, Luke… I can’t believe you wrote that for me.” She was having trouble processing. Luke didn’t write love songs, he wrote anthems. Unsaid Emily was the exception, and that was that. 

“You’re the song I can’t get out of my head, Jules… You’re the exception to every rule. I’ll write you a love song every day if that’s what it takes to make you happy.” Luke tightened his arms around her. “Soooo girlfriend,” Julie could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. “What would you like to do with the rest of our Sunday?” 

“Well, you did promise me a report on the music I added for you last week. Did you find anything good?” She cuddled into him a little more, pulling the flannel around her a little tighter, loving being completely wrapped in him. She would be lying if she was paying full attention to the conversation they were having. How could she focus when she was laying on her ghost boyfriend, wearing his clothes, with his hand on the small of her back? 

“Oh you know, the Hamilton Soundtrack. This band called 5 Seconds of Summer seemed pretty cool. Oh, and a playlist labeled ‘Juke’.” He paused, waiting to gauge her reaction. 

As expected, Luke felt Julie freeze a bit at that. “Oh I uh… didn’t realize that I added that playlist.” She blushed hard into his chest.

Luke took her chin in his free hand and pulled it so she was looking at him. “I’m glad you did… It’s honestly what made me realize how blind I’ve been to my own feelings. As if I thought this was just some crush. I’m not bright, Julie,” he shot her a brilliant smile. 

“Well clearly I’m not the brightest either. It took me a long time to realize what I was feeling.” She paused, thinking of the day in dance class, where her subconscious finally had to spell things out for her. “Were there any specific songs you liked?” Julie couldn’t help it. She needed to know which songs he had listened to, and if there were any in particular that helped him realize his feelings. 

Luke kissed the top of her head and took a breath in. He closed his eyes and let the words come back to him from that night. “Your eyes, As we said our goodbyes, Can't get them out of my mind, And I find I can't hide. From your eyes, The ones that took me by surprise, The night you came into my life, Where there's moonlight, I see your eyes.”

Julie held back a sob. RENT was her, Flynn, and Carrie’s favorite musical growing up. There was so much representation, some bad ass chicks, and it was the first rock musical they had seen. Flynn would take Maureen’s parts, Carrie would take over for Joanne, and Julie for Mimi. They would scream the songs at the top of their lungs, to anyone who cared to listen, which typically was just their trio. Luke picking a song from a movie with significance to her past was surprisingly expected, but expecting it didn’t make it melt her heart any less. His voice fit in place of Adam Pascal’s perfectly, and she could picture her being his Mimi for the scene. 

Julie leaned her head into him and started singing back to him. “There is no future, There is no past, Thank God this Moment's not the last. There's only us, There's only this, Forget regret or, Life is yours to miss, No other road no other way, No day but today.” 

Luke hadn’t heard that song, but smiled at how easily it followed the one he sang, as easy as he fit with her. She fed her hand into his and squeezed it. Julie yawned and Luke begrudgingly moved the hand on her back to run through her hair. He spoke, hoping he didn’t sound too eager, “would a nap be appropriate on such a nice afternoon?” 

Julie smiled and kissed his hand in hers. “It seems quite appropriate.” They hadn’t even had time to poof upstairs when the barn doors flew open, Reggie, Alex, and Willie standing in the open doorway.

“Ohhh well what do we have here?” Reggie mocked them as he walked over to the couch, taking a seat on the arm that Luke wasn’t leaning against. 

“Hello, Reginald. Alexander. William,” Luke said with a stern sound in his voice. He could see their relaxing moment slipping away as the boys continued to gape at them. 

“Lucas. Julianna,” Reggie responded, not falling for the bait. Flynn cleared her throat, approaching the open doors from the driveway. Reggie looked over his shoulder, clearly eyeing her up and down, winking at her as he acknowledged her. “Flynnigan.”

Flynn laughed softly and went to drape herself over Reggie’s torso. Trading her PJ’s for a short skirt and crop top with some bright Nike’s, Flynn looked amazing. The leather jacket around her shoulders spoke volumes to everyone in the room, Julie couldn’t wait for their sleep-over. She also couldn’t help but notice how good her best friend looked, even with what Julie could imagine was an awful headache. She’d have to remember to tell her later.

“So,” Reggie clapped his hands loudly, pulling his and Julie’s gaze away from Flynn as he refocused on the couple on the couch in front of him. “So, back to my original question…”

“My boyfriend and I were about to go take a nap. If you’ll excuse us,” she said and Luke poofed them away, chucking softly. 

He landed them in Julie’s bed, she apparently had the foresight to turn her covers down. As she curled up in his arms, he kissed her forehead and whispered, “what do you want Julie?” 

She smiled, talking into his t-shirt. “More of us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support. I hope 2021 is a better year for all of us. 
> 
> Side note, to those asking if I will write more of this story, I certainly hope so. I definitely need to write something from Carrie's POV, so I am currently contemplating if I can tie it in to this universe or if I need to make a stand alone story.


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